On Friday, Oct. 4, the Hofstra University field hockey team lost 3-0 to No. 13 University of Albany at Cindy Lewis Stadium. The Pride have dropped four consecutive contests and remain at zero wins since Sept. 15.
UAlbany’s Alison Smisdom broke the scoreless tie in the second half with her 16th goal of the season, the most in the nation.
While both teams had possession for about the same amount of time, the Great Danes controlled the opportunities in the game, outshooting Hofstra 12-1 and gaining seven penalty corners compared to one for the Pride.
One aspect Hofstra controlled was the fouls. The Pride ended the game with 13 fouls to UAlbany’s 41.
“I think our discipline definitely helped us a long way to make sure we committed less turnovers,” said Hofstra head coach Hillary Fitts.
Despite the decided edge in turnovers and fouls, the Pride could not take advantage of UAlbany’s mistakes.
The two teams were relatively even in the first quarter. UAlbany had possession of the ball for longer, but they had trouble finding passing lanes thanks to Hofstra’s defensive structure.
“We worked heavily this week on making sure we did our jobs on defense and the press,” Fitts said. “We did our individual jobs really well so that when we won the ball we could look to go forward.”
The Pride sent forecheckers at the Great Dane defenders and forced some significant turnovers across the entire game.
UAlbany broke the tie with about four minutes left in the second quarter. After failing to convert on the first corner in the sequence, the Great Danes looked to Smisdom for a straight shot at the top of the shooting arc. Smisdom rocketed one past Hofstra goaltender Pieke Roos on the near side of her net.
Eva Jenniskens scored UAlbany’s second shot with a minute remaining in the first half. Floor de Ruiter dribbled around the arc and crossed the ball to Makenna Lowe on the far side of the net. Lowe’s shot was stopped but the ball popped over to Jenniskens on the near side of the net and she put it home. Hofstra challenged the call for incidental contact with Roos, but the goal stood upon review.
The second half came and went very similarly for the Pride. Their best opportunity came from a corner drawn by Tess Satterfield. Jamie Lewis inserted the ball for the Pride, but the shot attempt went wide. Hofstra ended the game without an on-goal shot for the second game in a row.
Charlotte Triggs put a third goal on the board for the Great Danes in the third quarter, and the score held up for the remainder of the game.
Hofstra went back into action on Sunday, Oct. 6, taking on Columbia University at home.
Photo courtesy of Julia Boesch
