On Sunday, April 21, the Hofstra women’s lacrosse team traveled to Newark, Delaware to take on the University of Delaware and acquired their 10th win of the season by dominating on both offense and defense as they triumphed with a score of 14-8.
For the Pride, Alyssa Parrella controlled the game from start to finish, scoring six goals and adding an assist. With the game’s points, Parrella, only a junior, reached 249 career points, breaking the program record. She surpassed Brittain Altomare who amassed 247 points during her tenure as a member of the Pride from 2012-15.
Alexa Mattera added a hat trick of her own, as did freshman sensation Amanda Guerra – her second of the season. The trio of Parrella, Mattera and Guerra combined for 12 of the Pride’s 14 goals.
Defensively, goaltender Jess Smith continued her successful freshman campaign with nine saves while holding the Blue Hens to just four goals per half.
The Blue Hens began the scoring in this game with a goal from Caroline Farley just under two minutes into the first half and were able to hold the Pride scoreless for the first four minutes of the game. Then, the Pride broke free.
Hofstra scored six unanswered goals, three of which came from Parrella, securing herself an early hat trick. The rest came courtesy of Erin Demek, Guerra and Mattera.
Delaware was able to cut the lead to three with back-to-back goals coming from Sydney Rausa just 48 seconds apart. Unfortunately for the Blue Hens, they never got this close again.
Hofstra went on to score four of the next five goals, giving themselves a 10-4 lead at the half. When play resumed, they continued their dominance by netting four of the next six goals, with three of those being assisted by Katie Whelan.
After the Pride extended their lead to eight, making the score 14-6, the Blue Hens scored twice in the last six minutes to earn the final score of 14-8.
For the Fightin’ Blue Hens, Farley impressed in a losing effort, providing two goals and an assist while winning three draw controls. Both Sydney Rausa and Claire D’Antonio added two goals of their own.
The Pride won the draw control battle by doubling the Blue Hens’ tally 16-8 while also outshooting Delaware by a score of 30-21. The Pride took the turnover battle 11 to 13 and won ground balls 11-10.
With the win, the Pride find themselves at 10-6 on the season and have clinched themselves a spot in the Colonial Athletic Association championship, while the Blue Hens drop to 7-9.
Hofstra plays again on Saturday, April 27, when they travel to Drexel University for their regular-season finale against the Dragons.
Photo Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
