The Hofstra women’s lacrosse team dropped a home matchup against the University of Delaware on Friday by a final score of 12-8. 

With the loss, the Pride drop to 7-6 on the season and 1-2 in Colonial Athletic Association competition, while Delaware improves to 6-8 and 1-2 respectively. 

Delaware jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in just four minutes, but the deficit didn’t faze Hofstra’s offense, as freshman Katie Whelan answered shortly after with the team’s first goal. Whelan’s goal sparked a 4-0 scoring run for the Pride, with sophomore Alyssa Parrella adding two goals and senior Drew Shapiro scoring her first of the game. 

Delaware rallied back with a scoring run of their own, scoring three times with under 10 minutes left in the half. Sophomore Mary Kate Gerety scored her first of her career-high two goals in the contest to tie the game at 5. 

Shapiro’s second goal of the game in the second half moved the team to within one with a score of 9-8, but Delaware had the final say as they tallied three more goals to claim the victory.

Turnovers were a key issue in the game, with both teams matching each other in the category with 14 apiece. Hofstra head coach Shannon Smith attributed the fault to her team’s inability to ward off the opposing pressure. 

“[The team was] not working hard enough on the offensive side of the field to get open and [they] settled to make bad passes with pressure on us … we knew we had to expect heavy pressure and unfortunately we just didn’t handle it that well tonight,” Smith said. 

Even with Delaware surrendering 14 turnovers of their own, the Pride couldn’t capitalize on the opportunities with effective passes.

Junior Maddie Fields allowed 12 goals despite making eight timely saves, in part due to a lack of support from her defensive line. 

“[Delaware was] shooting really well and unfortunately we made some bad defensive slides,” Smith said. 

Even when the defense succeeded in stopping the ball, the oncoming pressure plagued their opportunities to make the opposition pay, and Delaware was able to pull out in front in the end.