On a crisp, sunny afternoon on Sunday, April 7, the Hofstra women’s lacrosse team defeated the Elon Phoenix 10-6 with a six-goal performance from Alyssa Parrella, who also broke the single season school record for most goals in a season with her 61st goal of the year.
The game was initially in favor of the Pride, as Parrella scored her first goal four minutes into the game to give the Pride an early 1-0 lead.
Within the next ten minutes, the Phoenix woke up, as four different players scored to give them the 4-1 lead.
Though the Pride snatched one more goal back before the end of the half, it wasn’t enough as the Phoenix found the net one final time to make the score 5-2 going into halftime.
The Pride were outshot 15-14 in the first half and also led in turnovers with eight, compared to Elon’s six.
“We just needed a little motivation at halftime,” said Hofstra head coach Shannon Smith. “Elon played a really terrific game.”
The second half began with a bang similar to the first as the Pride’s Arianna Esposito was able to find the back of the net to make the score 5-3 and notch her 11th goal of the year.
Elon increased their tally one last time off a Quinn Daly goal to make the score 6-3 – the final time the Phoenix would have the lead.
Parrella put the team on her back and scored the next three goals for her 59th, 60th and 61st goals of the season which broke the school record for most goals in a season.
“She’s an incredible player,” Smith said. “She’s having an incredible season right now. I’m really proud of her to get that record.”
The Pride later struck again to get their first lead of the game since the 1-0 mark when Alexa Mattera scored midway through the second half, making the score 7-6.
Later in the half Parrella scored two goals, eight minutes apart, followed by an Amanda Guerra goal that made the score 10-6 and finalized the Pride’s victory.
Hofstra now moves to No. 2 in the conference, behind the Dukes of James Madison University with their second win of the season.
“We’ve been telling our kids that all these games we play in conference are one and done,” said Coach Smith. “Our team wants to be in the conference tournament in May.”
Hofstra currently has a 9-4 overall record and an undefeated 2-0 record in the Colonial Athletic Association.
The Pride return home this Sunday when they face the Dukes at 12 p.m. for a battle for sole possession of the No. 1 spot in the conference.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
