The Hofstra University women’s soccer team played a scoreless draw against Columbia University in a battle of the non-conference foes on Friday, Aug. 23. The draw is Hofstra’s second of the new season, alongside a 1-1 season opener against Quinnipiac University on Thursday, Aug. 15. The Pride are now 10-6-3 all-time against the Lions.
“From a defensive perspective, I thought it was awesome,” said Hofstra head coach Simon Riddiough. “We were disciplined, we battled for each other, we pressed at the right times, we tactically and intelligently defended.”
Gabriella Marte, Sasha McTiffin, Olivia Pearse and Louise Hayden all played the full 90 minutes on defense, contributing to the clean sheet. Additionally, senior goalkeeper Mackenzie Sullivan made her season debut notching three saves.
“[Sullivan] was very good, she came out well for the balls in the first half,” Riddiough said. “She came up big a couple of times, so really proud of [Sullivan]. She’s been with the program for four years and she’s been a fantastic debutant for all those four years. And this was her chance to shine, she did brilliantly.”
The Pride did not create many chances on the attacking front, as Lions keeper Lauren Rodriguez did not record a single save during the game. Hofstra scored off a defensive press last week against Quinnipiac, but they were unable to do the same when facing Columbia.
“They are a better team than last week,” Riddiough said. “We switched our press a couple of times in the game because, like most Ivy League players, they are quite smart and they figured us out after 60 minutes. So we had to adjust to make it more difficult for them, but I thought the girls listened and tried their best to do what needed to be done.”
With a defensive press, however, came chances the other way: Columbia forward Gabby Chan had a massive chance early in the match that she put off target. In the end, the Lions outnumbered the Pride in shots on goal 3-0 and total shots 10-3.
With the lack of scoring, the game became physical: the two teams combined for 24 fouls, while Hofstra had three yellow cards.
“I think from an athletic and physicality perspective we can match most teams, especially at our level,” Riddiough said. “I don’t think it was chippy, I just think it was a good Division I physical game and they’ve got some athletes and we’ve got some athletes and it was a boxing match.”
Besides their dominant goal stats, the Lions also generated seven corners during the match, three of which were in the final five minutes.
For Hofstra, Millie Davies and Thorhildur Thorhallsdottir combined for the Pride’s only three shots on the day.
“I don’t think we deserved a win but maybe we could’ve sneaked a win in a different game,” Riddiough said.
The Pride continued their homestand on Sunday, Aug. 25, at 3:30 p.m. when they hosted Yale University at Hofstra University Soccer Stadium.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Lee S. Weissman
