By Mike Rudin – SPORTS EDITOR
The Hofstra Pride field hockey team pulled out one more win by the tail end of the 2015 season against the William & Mary Tribe in a 3-2 finish on the road last Friday.
Hofstra improved to 14-4 on the season after the game, 4-1 in conference play within the Colonial Athletic Association.
Hofstra doubled William & Mary in shots, 16-8. The Pride made efficient use of their offensive opportunities, out-shooting the Tribe 11-4 with shots on goal.
Yet, even with Hofstra’s relentless offense, William & Mary’s defense put together eight saves. Goalie Meredith Savage made five saves, defending her post for all 70 minutes; the other three defensive saves came from her teammates.
The Hofstra hero that carved William & Mary’s defense was Stella Schoen, who led the Pride with seven shots, six on target and two goals to her name. It was her third multiple-score performance of the season.
Hofstra started out strong with a goal by Stella Schoen in the 11th minute to start the game 1-0 in Hofstra’s favor. Claudia Marin Samper and Leigh Maxwell-Smith provided the setup.
Both the Pride and the Tribe scored their first goal through a penalty corner.
In the 29th minute, William & Mary’s Emma Macleod tied the game at one goal apiece off a penalty corner with six minutes and some change left in the first half.
Stella Schoen fired the first shot nearly a minute after the goal but Savage made the save. Two seconds later, Schoen fired again but a defensive save by Booter Ellis kept the game even.
In the final minute of the first half, Hofstra took two more scoring attempts. Simca Schoen took one shot but Savage saved it and Loehr’s shot was blocked. Both teams stayed even at halftime.
William & Mary made two defensive saves overall in the first 35-minute period, the first one came at 14:06 by Maddy Moore.
The Tribe’s defense pulled together five saves to keep them well in contention going into the second half.
After 24 minutes of defensive play from both sides – each only exchanged three shots in total – William & Mary put the Pride team on their toes with a game-leading goal by the Tribe’s Pippin Saunders at the 59:05 mark.
Her goal broke the tie as well as the scoreless streak in the second half to make things uncomfortable for the Pride.
But after the goal, Hofstra revved up their play to shut down William & Mary’s defense for the rest of the game.
Hofstra took a chance with an empty net using Leigh Maxwell-Smith as a kicking back in the 65th minute to invest everything into an offensive drive that pushed for a penalty corner.
Seconds after Hofstra goalie Lauren Saltus came back to her post, Claudia Marin Samper scored the tying goal off the penalty corner at the 65:22 mark.
Then 17 seconds later and with the penalty corner to set her up, Stella Schoen fired the game-winning shot for her 16th goal of the season and Hofstra put the game to bed with the one-goal difference.
Pride goalie Lauren Saltus won her fifth consecutive game as the starter in front of the goal post with two saves against William & Mary.
