On a sunny Sunday afternoon, the Hofstra women’s soccer team advanced to the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Tournament final against James Madison University with a 1-0 win over rival Northeastern in Boston. The team is now seeking to win back-to-back CAA titles for the first time in school history.
Right as the first whistle blew, each team came out exchanging shots. Hofstra keeper Jenna Borresen felt the pressure early but responded well, stopping both of Northeastern’s two early shots. Then in the ninth minute, the Pride got their chance and beat Northeastern keeper Nathalie Nidetch off a great header by Lucy Porter, set up by a magnificent cross from Jenn Buoncore to make the score 1-0.
The exchange of shots continued through the first half. In the 26th minute, Northeastern grew close to scoring as Katarina Nilsson almost sent the ball past Borresen, but once again the Pride’s star goalie stepped in the way and prevented a Northeastern equalizer.
Entering the second half, Hofstra still led 1-0, eyeing one more clean defensive half to punch their ticket to the CAA finals. The Pride and Huskies each made goalie subs out of halftime, with Ashley Wilson entering the game for the Pride and Megan Adams entering for the Huskies. Borresen finished the first half with five saves on five shots and no goals let in.
The Huskies immediately attacked the Pride defense in the second half with two shots in the opening three minutes – both blocked out of harms way. In response, in the 62nd minute, Hofstra midfielder Bella Richards made a run at the goal and fired her shot, but was stopped by Adams.
As the game went on, the Huskies kept pressuring the Pride with shot after shot. Particularly from the 84th minute onward, Northeastern unloaded a barrage of shots on Wilson with three shots in three minutes. Wilson was a brick wall, however, and stopped all three shots with ease, preventing a Northeastern equalizer. Soon after the barrage of shots, the final whistle blew and the Pride had their ticket punched to the CAA championship against James Madison University.
The Pride look to win back-to-back CAA championships for the first time ever in school history, while JMU hopes to win its first title since the 2015-16 season.
Earlier this year, JMU was able to beat the Pride 1-0, ending the Pride’s three-game win streak.
The final is set for Saturday, Nov. 3, at 1 p.m. in Harrisonburg, Virginia with the Pride looking to avenge an early season loss and capture another CAA title.
