On Saturday, Feb. 9, the Hofstra women’s lacrosse team traveled to Los Angeles, California, to take on the University of Southern California (USC). The programs met for the first time in history and ended with the No. 21-ranked Trojans defeating the Pride by a score of 15-10.
Although the contest was decided by a sizeable amount, there were still some bright spots for the Pride in their season opener.
Alyssa Parrella and Katie Whelan both impressed with four goals apiece, while freshman netminder Jess Smith was able to rack up 11 saves in her collegiate debut.
For the Trojans, midfielder Katie Ramsay led the way, scoring a hat trick on only three shots. Goalie Riley Hertford also contributed with nine saves from the crease. The Trojans dominated the shot tally with 38 compared to the Pride’s 23. The turnover battle was also won by USC as they surrendered 10 possessions while the Pride lost 13.
Within the first two minutes of action, the Pride had jumped out to an early 1-0 lead thanks to Whelan’s first score. This would kick off a back-and-forth first half that included four lead changes. Both teams put forth a valiant effort and when the dust had settled, the game went into halftime with the score knotted at five.
As the second half began, it quickly became clear that the tide had changed. With 24:55 remaining in the final period, USC attacker Emily Concialdi was awarded a free position shot. Concialdi capitalized and gave the Trojans a 6-5 lead.
From there, USC never looked back. With a goal from Ramsay and then another from Concialdi, the Trojans scored three times in a minute as their lead ballooned to 8-5. USC would go on to score five of the next six goals in the game which gave them a comfortable 13-6 lead, but the Pride would not go down without a fight.
With 8:50 to go, a Whelan goal shortened the USC lead to six. Just a minute later, Parrella ensued as she scored twice just 21 seconds apart to cut the lead to 13-9 with 7:11 remaining.
USC wasted no time answering back by scoring twice more to complete their 10-goal second half and put the game out of reach. Alexa Mattera scored the final goal of the game for the Pride with 3:07 left as Hofstra fell 15-10.
With this loss, the Pride is sent to 0-1 on the season while the Trojans begin their campaign 1-0. The Pride next play on Saturday, Feb. 16, when they travel to Bucknell University to take on the Bison.
