Women’s soccer locked down the No. 3 spot in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) during their season finale on Sunday in a 1-0 win against the College of Charleston.
Sabrina Bryan gave the Pride a one-goal advantage after scoring two minutes and 55 seconds into the game. Bryan, out in front of Charleston’s net, scored off a pass from Hofstra forward Jenn Buoncore.
Bryan has five goals in the last three games and a total of nine goals this season.
“I thought we were quite settled in the beginning,” said head coach Simon Riddiough.
“To get that early goal just allows you some breathing space, some ability to just settle into the game … it was a superb goal.”
Charleston forwards Sara Deutsch and Talia Colchico both attempted to respond to Hofstra’s goal but each shot the ball high over the net.
Hofstra had three scoring opportunities throughout the first half but was shut down by Charleston goalkeeper Genevieve Henderson.
Going into the second half both Hofstra and Charleston switched their goalies.
Meredith Holton went in for the Cougars and Ashley Wilson went in for the Pride for her first game after missing the previous four games due to injury.
In an attempt to widen Hofstra’s lead, Bryan took a shot on goal in the 73rd minute, but the ball deflected off of the crossbar.
Following Bryan’s effort, Sabrina Barton had a wide open net to score in the 84th minute but was blocked by Charleston goalkeeper Holton.
Hofstra was aggressive on the ball and kept control of play, resulting in a total of 16 shots for the Pride. Hofstra’s stellar defense also shut down Charleston’s opportunities, resulting in a total of seven shots and only one shot on goal for the Cougars.
“I probably think that this is the best style of play we have done all year,” Riddiough said.
“We created a lot of good opportunities. Pretty much I thought we were really effective and played some really good stuff. I am pretty happy with the whole 90 minutes.”
Hofstra finishes the season 12-5-1 overall and 6-2-1 in the CAA as they move into the CAA Quarterfinals.
Hofstra will find out their Quarterfinal opponent on Tuesday, Oct. 23, after Elon plays UNC Wilmington.
“We are going to get on the road again,” Riddiough said.
“We have been fairly successful on the road so I am not overly concerned about that. It’s playoff time, we’re just excited to be in the playoffs. Everything in this conference is difficult to get, so to get a third seed going into a playoff situation is everything we want. Hopefully we can get a couple of wins on the road and go from there.”
