Melissa Sconone’s five-goal effort wasn’t enough to lift the Hofstra University women’s lacrosse team above the University of Connecticut Huskies, so the Pride ended on the losing side in their 13-11 game on Tuesday, March 12.

The Huskies started strong, winning the first draw control; less than a minute in, Lauren Barry broke the seal to give the Huskies the first goal of the contest. Another minute later, Kate Shaffer pushed the Pride down two. UConn won the first three draw controls of the game, contributing to the enhanced pressure from the Huskies.

Natalie DeMeo won the Pride’s first of 13 draw controls, sparking a goal from Sconone assisted by Taylor Mennella. The Pride and the Huskies traded goals, ending the first quarter 5-5. By the end of that same quarter, Sconone netted a hat trick.

Landyn White and Luchianna Cardello both left their marks on the game in the second quarter. Neither Hofstra nor UConn could net more than one goal because both goalies played lock-down defense. White’s crucial second-quarter performance held the Huskies in the game as Hofstra outshot UConn 13-11 through 30 minutes. White’s 12 saves made all the difference as opposed to Cardello’s six.

UConn broke the tie out of the half with two goals from Rayea Davis. Sconone netted her final goal of the game before Susan Lafountain and Eliza Bowman gave the Huskies a three-goal lead, the largest lead for either team. With 10 seconds left in the third, Lauren Coletti snuck one past White on a free position to give the Pride momentum going into the final frame. 

And momentum they had as Kate Fiola brought the Pride back to within one. The game opened up, and both squads traded two goals until there was barely a minute left.

Kerry Walser was awarded a free position and made it count. White saved six out of seven Walser shots on goal, but Walser used this one to bring Hofstra back to within one point.

Hofstra head coach Shannon Smith called a timeout to devise the next play, which included pulling Cardello from goal and having Walser take the draw. Despite the Pride’s improvement on draw controls in this game, Madelyn George won it for UConn to give them the last possession.

In the final moments, Trinity Reed got a yellow card for attempting to cause a turnover, giving the home team the man-up advantage. Davis iced the game for the Huskies by scoring the clincher with 18 seconds left for a two-goal Huskies victory.

Something to note is that redshirt freshman attacker Nikki Mennella, one of the most dominant offensive threats in the Pride’s lineup, did not see game action for Hofstra. Despite that, the Pride fared well in the game.

Photo courtesy of Geoffrey Bolte