The 8-4 Hofstra University women’s Soccer team battled with the 7-2 University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) Seahawks on Sunday, Sept. 30 at Duke University and edged out a 2-1 win for their second consecutive victory.
Calling this a big game would be an understatement, as these two teams were only separated by one win in the overall standings.
The Pride were coming off of a huge 1-0 shutout at home against Delaware last Thursday.
Mistakes were made by Hofstra in the 63rd minute, awarding UNCW with a penalty after the Pride were called for a handball in the area.
UNCW’s sophomore, Molly McGarry took advantage of this opportunity and scored the first goal of the game.
The Pride, who had to overcome this 1-0 second half deficit came out firing only seven minutes later, as freshman Miri Taylor fired a nice shot past UNCW’s goalie, Sydney Schneider.
This tied the game at one in the 71st minute, and created a huge momentum shift for the Pride.
Wasting no time at all, in the 74th minute, sophomore Sabrina Bryan netted a one timer on a pass from Jordan Littleboy into the box. The game-changing goal was Bryan’s fourth of the season.
In order to get back in the game, UNCW had to answer back with a goal of their own after giving up two goals in only three minutes and change.
Despite UNCW’s efforts, Hofstra goalie Ashley Wilson made a couple of big saves late in the game to secure the Pride victory.
Wilson finished the game with five total saves in the final 45 minutes of play.
In the first half, redshirt senior goalie Jenna Borresen saved the one shot that came her way.
Even though she didn’t put a goal on the board, Hofstra’s senior Jenn Buoncore played very aggressively with her four shots, which was the most of any member of the Pride.
For UNCW, sophomore Grace Bondurant also let it fly with four shots of her own.
Even still, the 13 total shots that the Seahawks fired off weren’t enough to match the Pride’s two goals.
The win brings Hofstra to a 9-4 overall record and a 3-1 conference record, while UNCW drops to 7-3 overall and a 1-2 conference record.
The second consecutive victory was the Pride’s fifth win in their last six games.
Looking to keep this strong run going, Hofstra returns home to play Northeastern on Thursday, Oct. 4.
Image courtesy of Cam Keough
