In what was a physical game, the Hofstra women’s soccer team held on, defeating the Columbia University Lions at home 1-0 on Sunday, Sept. 15. Lucy Shepherd recorded the lone goal, and Skylar Kuzmich earned the second shutout of her young career.
The physicality of the game was on display early and often, as there were multiple turnovers from each side early in the game. It got even more physical as Hofstra got into Columbia’s penalty area. Columbia pressed on them, essentially double-teaming every attacker on the Pride.
This led to plenty of sloppy play from Hofstra. They weren’t able to get a solid look at the goal, as they couldn’t connect on many passes in Columbia’s penalty box. Even when they could get a shot, it was a weak one that was easily corralled by the Lions goalkeeper.
The physicality of the game caused issues for the Pride in more ways than one, as the Pride went through some injury trouble. Early in the game, freshman defender Marlene Fries went down with an apparent knee injury and needed help getting off the field. Additionally, sophomore forward Krista Agostinello was subbed out with an apparent shoulder injury. Hofstra head coach Simon Riddiough was not able to provide an update on either player at the time.
“Hopefully they’ll both be back for next week, but we’ve got to check with the doctor tomorrow and see what they say, and see how the knee and shoulder recover,” Riddiough said.
Fortunately for the Pride, substitutes Megan Fisher and Lily Stavisky came into the game and held their own, helping out a struggling starting unit for the Pride.
“The effort was there, I’ll give them credit. They worked hard. But again we have to go back to the drawing board,” Riddiough said.
The Pride got their first substantial scoring opportunity with 40 minutes left in the second half. Miri Taylor took a shot that deflected to Lucy Porter, who nearly put the ball in if not for a nice diving stop by freshman goalkeeper Liz Matei. Porter got the ball back and put up another shot, but it hit off the top of the goalpost and was reigned in by the Lions.
The Pride had two more close calls, one from Shepherd and a missed header on their lone corner of the game. Eventually, they finally connected on their first and only goal with 16 minutes left. Porter found Shepherd cutting to the center of the pitch before Shepherd found the back of the net, giving the Pride the only goal they needed.
The rest of the game came and went, but not without some late drama. With three minutes remaining, the Lions seemed to drive in the equalizer on a corner kick. Fortunately for the Pride, Columbia was caught offside, nullifying the goal and maintaining the lead for Hofstra. The Lions couldn’t get another shot on target for the remainder of the game, solidifying the shutout for Kuzmich.
With the offense struggling for much of the game, the Pride defense stepped up, having one of their best games of the season. The Lions only got four shots on the Pride defense, the third time this season that the Pride held their opponent to under five shots. Riddiough was especially impressed with the performance of freshman Anja Suttner, who has continued her impressive freshman season.
“She was an absolute monster,” Riddiough said. “She’s a tremendous little player, and I think she showed some maturity under a lot of pressure. [She] guided us to that win, to be honest.”
This was Hofstra’s ninth consecutive win against Columbia – their in-state rival.
The Pride will look to extend their winning streak to four games this Friday, Sept. 20 on the road against the University of Pennsylvania.
Image courtesy of Adam Flash
