STORRS, C.T. — The Hofstra field hockey team suffered its second defeat of the season on the afternoon of Saturday, Feb. 13, when it fell to the University of Connecticut Huskies by a score of 5-0.
The Huskies got big games out of Kourtney Kennedy, who completed a hat trick of three goals with four shots taken total, as well as Sophie Hamilton, who put in two goals and earned an assist.
The Pride was only able to get off two shots the entire match, with both coming in the final seven minutes of play. The first shot, from junior defender Haley Carter, forced the only save of the game from the Huskies’ keeper Cheyenne Sprecher. Freshman forward Jasmijn Verdoes took the Pride’s second shot and the last one of the match for either team, which missed wide.
Hofstra’s sophomore goalkeeper Merlijn van der Vegt faced 15 shots on goal and made saves on 10 of those attempts, posting her second straight game with a save percentage of 0.667. The match marks the second time in her career with the Pride that she’s tallied 10 saves. Seven of her saves came in the first half.
The Huskies forced the issue early in their season-opener, forcing two saves from van der Vegt just fifteen seconds apart, both coming less than two minutes into the match. 6:01 into the first period, Hamilton converted the team’s first goal of the season. She followed that up with another in the second period, with Jessica Dombrowski earning the 5:51 into the frame.
The Huskies’ scoring in the second period was jumpstarted by a corner kick from Connecticut’s Claire van den Noort that was put into the back of the net by Kennedy 2:34 into the frame. Van den Noort and Morgan Kaufmann were each credited with an assist.
The Kennedy, van den Noort and Kaufmann trio ran it back in the third period, as Kennedy once again scored off a corner from Van den Noort, who earned her second assist along with Kaufmann after 8:48 had elapsed of the second half. Kennedy finished off her hat trick 2:24 into the fourth quarter off an assist from Hamilton to score the Huskies’ fifth and final goal.
Hofstra’s record fell to 0-2 with the loss. The team dropped its season-opener to Temple University the day prior. The Pride will look to secure their first win of the season on Friday, Feb. 19, when they host Drexel University at the Hofstra Field Hockey Stadium.
Photo Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
