A four-goal effort from Katie Whelan was not enough as the Hofstra women’s lacrosse team picked up their first loss of the season, falling to the United States Military Academy 13-12 on Saturday, Feb. 19, inside the Foley Athletic Center in West Point, New York. 

Erin Demek scored an unassisted goal to give the Pride a 1-0 lead three minutes into the game.  Army countered with two goals in two minutes from Jolie Riedell and Caroline Raymond, but the 2-1 lead was short-lived. The Pride stormed back, scoring four consecutive goals to end the quarter with two coming from Whelan, while Arianna Esposito and Demek picked up the rest to make it a 5-2 lead for Hofstra.

 Army started the second quarter strong with a quick goal less than two minutes in from Julia Gorajek. Eight minutes later, Raymond assisted Carleigh Armstrong to make it a one goal game. The Pride were able to finish off the quarter strong once again with goals from Amanda Guerra and Kerry Walser, giving Hofstra their second three goal lead of the game, up 7-4 at halftime.

The third quarter started off even, as Armstrong cut Hofstra’s lead to two before Whelan quickly got the goal back to put the Pride up 8-5. The next five minutes were all Army, as they scored three consecutive goals to tie the game. Riedell started the rally with two goals in under three minutes and Raymond scored her second goal of the day to tie it.

Hofstra took the lead once again with goals from Katie Kelly and Taylor Mennella, which capped off an eventful seven goal quarter that ended with the Pride up 10-8.  

Up until that point, the stats were mostly in Hofstra’s favor. The Pride had an 18-15 advantage in shots on goal and had forced seven Army turnovers while giving up just five of their own.

Although Esposito scored again to give Hofstra another three-goal lead, it was not a fourth quarter to remember. Army scored five consecutive goals, including two from Raymond to give her four in the game, while Armstrong, Gorajek and Riedell each netted one of their own to make it 13-11 with under five minutes remaining. All four Black Knights had multi-goal performances in the game.

Down but not out, Whelan scored her fourth goal of the game, an unassisted effort to cut the lead to one, but that ended up being the final tally for Hofstra as they were unable to claim possession for the rest of the game.

Army outplayed the Pride in the fourth quarter, outshooting them 9-3, and winning all six faceoffs to grab their first win of the season and hand the Hofstra women their first loss.

Hofstra’s next match is Tuesday, Feb. 22, at 1 p.m. against the Brown University Bears in Providence, Rhode Island, followed by their first home game of the season on Saturday, Feb. 26, against Fairfield University.

Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics