The Hofstra Pride field hockey team fought hard defensively, but their offensive struggles continued as they took a 9-1 loss against the St. Joseph’s University Hawks at a home game on Friday, Aug. 30.
The Hawks saw seven separate players score. Meanwhile, Hofstra’s lone scorer was Cami Larsson. This is the second loss of the fall 2019 season for the Pride, who dropped to 0-2.
Hofstra started off aggressive on defense, pressuring the Hawks to make quick decisions with the ball. The approach worked early in the game as they were able to force multiple turnovers within the first five minutes.
The Hawks matched the Pride’s defensive intensity and Hofstra wasn’t able to take advantage of their early miscues. Once the Hawks started crossing into the Pride’s defensive third, they were able to take quality shots. Hofstra struggled to keep up with St. Joseph’s pass-heavy, active strategies. This tactic forced the Pride to foul, leading to multiple early penalty corners for the Hawks. Cecelia DeSimone held strong in the net, but second-chance opportunities led to Tonya Botherway scoring her first of three goals as the Hawks took a 1-0 lead. The Hawks kept attacking, scoring three more goals in the first quarter and bringing the score to 4-0.
St. Joseph’s offense made it harder for Hofstra to gain possession. Furthermore, the Hawks’ defense made it difficult for the Pride to do anything when they did control the ball. They recorded their lone shot on goal on a penalty shot by Larsson with 4:45 remaining in the first half. With that opportunity, Larsson, last year’s leading goal scorer, put the ball in the net for the Pride’s first goal of the season.
“Any time you’re getting on the board, it’s a good thing,” said Hofstra head coach Courtney Veinotte. “We’re really focusing on how to create more attacking opportunities as a unit. We’ve got shooters that want to shoot. We’ve just got to get them through into some open space; it’s something we’re working on every day.”
Despite the Pride’s struggles on defense, Meredith Pfennig impressed on the defensive end, blocking multiple shots and constantly moving to pressure players in the defending third.
“She’s a little workhorse as a defender,” Veinotte said. “She’s very athletic. She keeps that energy within the team and she’s very important to our back line.”
Despite the goals allowed, DeSimone held her own in the net. Facing 29 shots from the Hawks, she was able to collect seven saves, a career high for the junior.
“She’s been working hard on organizing her defenders and just trying to stay focused on making the first save and letting her defenders pick up rebounds,” Veinotte said. “She’s a very committed player. It’ll be fun to see her grow.”
While the Pride took the loss, there was a noticeable improvement in their defense as the game progressed. They grew more solid and were able to snuff out a greater amount of the Hawks’ offensive attacks.
“Our defenders had to really work to communicate and exchange cutters,” Veinotte said. “Overall, [I’m] extremely impressed with St. Joe’s, and [I was] also impressed with our improvement throughout the four periods.”
For a young team like Hofstra, facing a ranked opponent like St. Joseph’s allows them to learn more about themselves as a group heading into Colonial Athletic Association play.
“We learned about our basic skill. We really need to be more technical and picky,” Veinotte said. “At the end of the day, I think we handled a very good team today.”
Image Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
