HARRISONBURG, VA — The Hofstra Pride field hockey team was outmatched 4-0 on Sunday, Oct. 13, when they traveled to Harrisonburg, Virginia, to face off against the James Madison University (JMU) Dukes.
Entering this matchup, the Pride (5-8, 0-3 in conference) came off of a difficult game against William & Mary where they were outshot 25-7 and lost 4-2. Against JMU (6-7, 2-1 in conference), however, the offense was silent, mustering just two shots, neither of which were on goal. With the loss, the Pride have dropped three of their last four games while the Dukes are on a three-game winning streak.
After a mostly uneventful first quarter, James Madison got on the board near the end of the second when the Dukes’ Ongeziwe Mali came in one-on-one and sent it five-hole on Pride goalkeeper Merlijn van der Vegt. Caroline Cahill blocked a clear by Frankie O’Brien, which was then picked up by Morgan Merritt who threaded a lead pass to Mali to give her the breakaway. That score stood into halftime, with the Pride successfully defending all seven corners against.
The corners began to take their toll after halftime. Mali opened the second half, scoring with her second tally of the game. JMU’s Rachel Yeager took a corner and the ball came to teammate Megan Guzzardi, who ripped a shot from the top of the striking circle. Mali deflected it to the top of the net, just a few feet in front of van der Vegt. It was the Dukes’ fifth corner of the third quarter and 12th of the game.
The scoring continued for James Madison just four minutes later on their next corner. Yeager took it once again, sending a pass that found its way to Guzzardi. She ripped a shot that went off the stick of Hofstra’s Meredith Pfennig in front of the goal and found the top shelf, giving the Dukes a 3-0 lead with under a minute to go in the third.
JMU’s 16th and final corner of the game resulted in their fourth and final goal of the game. After a couple of passes, Miranda Rigg sent the ball toward the net. It hit the stick of Pride defender Valerie Vogels and popped up into the air before being batted over van der Vegt’s right shoulder by JMU’s Courtney Lynch.
Van der Vegt finished the game with 10 saves, her fourth contest this season with more than seven shots turned aside. Cami Larsson had both Pride shots, neither of which hit the net. Hofstra was dominated by a team that has played six ranked opponents this season, including top-ranked University of North Carolina just two weeks prior to this matchup.
Image courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
