Alyssa Parrella led the way for Hofstra women’s lacrosse, scoring a career-high nine points, as the Pride buried the University of New Hampshire in a 17-7 victory on Thursday night at James M. Shuart Stadium.
Parrella tallied six goals and three assists to best her former record of eight points in a game, which came against Fairfield University last February. It is the most points scored by a Hofstra player since Brittain Altomare had nine points on four goals and five assists against Quinnipiac on March 8, 2015. The Pride improved to 6-4 with its third straight victory. New Hampshire fell to 3-6.
“[Parrella] just allowed the game to come to her, which is something we’ve talked about all week,” said Hofstra head coach Shannon Smith. “She was still playing fast but allowing plays to develop and really finishing her shots.”
Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Week Katie Whelan also tallied five goals to tie her career-high.
“Really great team win. I couldn’t be more happy or proud of the girls,” Smith said. “Defensively, we played really tough.”
The Pride’s defense limited top-scorers Krissy Schafer and Carly Wooters to two goals combined. They also outshot the Wildcats 37-22.
Hofstra scored three goals within a four-minute span five minutes into the first half. Jenna Budd opened the scoring, followed by Parrella and Carlee Ancona netting goals of their own. Catherine Sexton gained one back for the Wildcats, but another goal from Parrella and one from Whelan put the Pride up 5-1 with 13:54 to play in the half. Elizabeth Blanding and Rebecca Sennott would tack on two more goals for New Hampshire, but a goal from New Hampshire native Drew Shapiro put the Pride up 6-3 at halftime.
The Wildcats limited Hofstra to 13 shots in the first half, but with a three-goal lead, the Pride came back onto the field for the second with a different strategy.
“They were putting a lot of pressure on us down low so we decided to change up our offense and attack more from up top, get more throwback passes and triangle movement, which allowed our goal scorers to get their hands free,” Smith said.
Hofstra scored the first three goals of the half to make it a 9-3 game with just under 25 minutes left to play. Sennott and Wooters would help put New Hampshire within five goals with goals to make it 11-6, but the Pride went on a 5-0 run that stopped any thoughts of a comeback. The run put Hofstra up by 10 after Parrella scored two consecutive goals to make it 16-6. Whelan put the Pride’s last goal past Wildcats keeper Kate Clancy for the 17-7 victory.
“Like Coach Torin Varn tells us, we don’t want to taste failure,” Parrella said. “We don’t want to lose anymore.”
During its three-game win streak, the Pride has outscored their opponents 49-18.
Alexa Mattera scored two goals and an assist for the Pride. She also had a game-high seven draw controls. Shapiro and Budd also contributed two goals apiece.
Keeper Maddie Fields made 10 saves to earn her sixth win of the season. It was her fifth game with at least 10 saves this season. She is now one save shy of 10th place all-time at Hofstra with 245 saves. Mary Cuddihy, who played from 2007-2010, is in 10th with 246 saves.
Hofstra will return to the field next Friday, Apr. 6, to open CAA play at 5 p.m. against Elon University.“The CAA is a really tough conference across the board. We’re really excited to play Elon. I think they played a really tough schedule and I think they’re going to be really prepared,” Smith said.
“And we couldn’t be more excited to have our first conference game here at Hofstra so we don’t have to be on the road. We get to play them in our home stadium with our home fans.”
