HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — The Hofstra Pride women’s soccer team punched its ticket to the second round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday, Nov. 16, with a 1-0 overtime victory over the Loyola University Chicago Ramblers at the Hofstra Soccer Stadium.
The game-winning goal came from Sabrina Bryan. After Miri Taylor sent a touch pass to Bella Richards, Bryan collected a short pass from Richards at the top of the box and drove left past Loyola’s Jenna Ross, creating enough separation to put a left-footed shot just inside the goalpost which ricocheted to the back of the net. Taylor and Richards were given assists on Bryan’s third game-winner of the season.
“The moment after [the shot] was just unbelievable,” Bryan said. “You can’t put it into words.”
“She’s just a very dynamic player,” said Loyola head coach Barry Bimbi. “It’s unfortunate to let the girl who’s circled on your scouting report beat you, but I thought our girls did a very good job on her for the majority of the game.”
The Pride held a slight edge offensively throughout the match, outshooting the Ramblers 14-11 in regulation. Hofstra was the aggressor for much of the first half, but at the 31-minute mark, the Ramblers were able to create two quick scoring opportunities that were snuffed out by Hofstra, as Megan Nemec’s shot was blocked by Lily Stavisky and Pride goalkeeper Skylar Kuzmich made a save against Aleksa Tataryn.
The Pride kept up the pressure following halftime, as they accumulated three corner kicks in less than a minute early in the second half. They would take eight shots in the period, including the final attempt of regulation coming from Anja Suttner with nine minutes left.
Fifteen minutes into the second half, Kuzmich came far out of the net to try for a save against Loyola’s Nemec, but the two collided and a foul was called on Nemec. Kuzmich was slow to get back to her feet and appeared shaken, but within the next four minutes, she had made her second and third saves of the match, both on shots from Abby Swanson.
“It was 15 minutes into the second half and I knew I had the whole rest of the second half to finish it,” Kuzmich said. “I needed to be there for my team. It’s just typical stuff, you got to shake it off. [Say,] ‘You got hit, you’re fine, you’re ready for the next one.’”
With 14 minutes left in regulation, Suttner earned possession on Hofstra’s half of the field, then single-handedly took a drive across midfield and drew a yellow card against Loyola’s Simone Wark. The packed stadium went wild, as the biggest home crowd for the Pride this year emphatically rooted on their squad.
“Games like today with the crowd, the pep band, the student body – it was electrifying,” said Hofstra head coach Simon Riddiough. “Big programs get those kinds of atmospheres on a regular basis. And that’s the next step.”
While snapping Loyola’s 12-match unbeaten streak and extending Hofstra’s to 16, Bryan’s overtime heroics pushed the Pride into the Round of 32 in the NCAA tournament.
After joking “Stanford [University] who?” when asked about the Pride’s next opponent, who defeated Prairie View A&M 15-0 in the first round, Riddiough said, “We’ll look at Stanford’s games, we’ll come up with a game plan, and all eyes will be on that game, obviously, with Stanford being the overall No. 1 for the last four years straight.”
The Pride’s second-round match with Stanford University will be held in Stanford, California on Friday, Nov. 22, at 10 p.m.
Photo Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
