The Hofstra women’s lacrosse team fell just short of a major upset over the defending national champions, James Madison University (JMU) on Saturday, April 14,at James M. Shuart Stadium. The Pride lost a very tightly contested double-overtime game by the score of 9-8 which saw JMU junior Maddie McDaniel score the gaming-winning goal at the 3:05 mark in double overtime.
The Pride got off to a slow start at the beginning of the game as they fell into an early 3-0 deficit with a little over 10 minutes gone by in the contest. Hofstra finally got on the board when junior Alexa Mattera found the net with 16:34 remaining in the half.
From there, both teams defenses kicked in and would not allow any goals for the next 10 minutes of play until the Dukes scored their fourth goal to take a 4-1 lead with 5:08 remaining in the half. In response, Hofstra seemed to gain a little momentum as star player Alyssa Parrella scored her first goal of the afternoon with 2:20 left in the half followed by another goal by freshman Amanda Guerra just 35 seconds later. Those back-to-back goals by the Pride were the last of the half for either team as JMU headed into the break leading 4-3.
“We started out really tight on the offensive side of the field in the beginning of the game,” said head coach Shannon Smith on the Pride’s slow start to the game.
Coming out of halftime, JMU’s Logan Brennan scored the team’s fifth goal to take a 5-3 lead in just under two minutes before Hofstra’s offense and defense began to ignite with a 4-0 goal spurt against the defending champs that pushed them to a commanding 7-5 lead with 15:14 left in the match.
This second half Hofstra attack was well dispersed as the four goals all came from different players. Parrella and Guerra each netted their second of the afternoon in the run while sophomores Arianna Esposito and Katie Whelan netted their first as the Pride took firm control on their home turf.
Hofstra goalie Jess Smith stepped up with several saves to thwart the Dukes’ offense while the team’s defense helped out to keep the Dukes without a goal for over a 20 minute span in the second half.
“We started to loosen up, we started to move the ball better, we started to win the draw controls and the defense started to make some stops,” Coach Smith said.
With the defending champions teetering and Hofstra rolling, it looked as if the Pride would be able to put this one away. However, JMU had other plans. The Dukes finally got on the board again with 6:26 left in the game and then scored two more goals all in under a three-minute span to take the lead 8-7 with 4:04 remaining in the game.
Esposito then came up clutch for Hofstra and notched her second goal of the game with 26 seconds left to send the game into overtime tied at 8-8.
The defense picked up for both teams as neither side was able to find the net in the first period of overtime. Jess Smith came up big with key saves in the period to keep the Pride alive in the game.
In the second overtime, McDaniel’s second goal of the game gave coupled with a defense that kept Hofstra off the board gave JMU the win as they improved their record to 12-3, including 4-0 in Colonial Athletics Association (CAA) play.
The Pride fell to 9-5 on the season, snapping their three-game win streak and now sit at 2-1 in CAA competition.
“The ball was going to bounce in JMU’s net or our net and unfortunately we were on the unlucky side of it,” Coach Smith said.
Hofstra looks to get back on track Friday, April 19, when they welcome the Towson Tigers in another pivotal conference matchup at home. The game starts at 7 p.m.
Image courtesy of Hofstra Athetics
