On Saturday, Feb. 16, the Hofstra women’s lacrosse team traveled to Lewisburg, Pennsylvania to take on Bucknell University and got their first win of the season by dominating on both offense and defense as they prevailed by a score of 13-4. 

Offensively for the Pride, nine different players found the back of the cage including Alexa Mattera who erupted for three of the Pride’s 13 goals. This was Mattera’s eighth career hat trick. 

Defensively, freshman goaltender Jess Smith continued to impress as she finished the day with 11 saves, tying her career high. 

Another Smith had an outstanding outing as well, as Darcie Smith turned in a great all-around effort causing a team-high three turnovers, winning six draw controls and two ground balls and scoring her first goal of the season. 

Although the Bison ended up winning the turnover battle by a tally of 24-19, the Pride suffocated the Bison on draw controls winning that matchup by a score of 15-4. The Bison only won one draw control in the second half. This led to the disparity of shots on goal in the Pride’s favor by a count of 24-15, that of which was very evident in the early going. 

Within the first 5:15 of the first half Alyssa Parrella had already netted her two goals for the game letting the Pride jump out to an early 2-0 lead. Kate Fiore would stop the bleeding for the Bison as she brought the game within one, scoring just 50 seconds after Parrella’s second goal. Following that, Hofstra took over.

The Pride scored four unanswered goals courtesy of Katie Whelan, Erin Demek, Tessa Sinatro and Mattera as their lead ballooned to 6-1. Audrey Walsh of Bucknell snuck one by Jess Smith 31 seconds before the first half ended to cut the lead to 6-2 and give Bucknell hope heading into the second half. 

Any hopes were quickly crushed as the Pride scored another four unanswered goals in the first 20 minutes of the second half, extending their lead to 10-2. The four goals once again came from four different players in Jackie Gatti, Arianna Esposito, Shannon Boyle and Smith. 

Freshman midfielder Gatti continued to step up and make an impact for the Pride by scoring her second goal in as many games.

In the final 10 minutes, Hofstra outscored the Bison 3-2. When the final whistle blew the Pride ended up comfortably on top with a convincing win by the score of 13-4. 

For the Bucknell Bison, Audrey Walsh led the team with a goal and an assist doing all that she could in this lopsided affair.

With the win, the Pride find themselves at an even 1-1 on the season while the Bison drop to 0-2. Hofstra next plays on Tuesday, Feb. 19, when they return to James M. Shuart Stadium for their home opener against the Wagner Seahawks.