The Hofstra women’s lacrosse team was upended by the Stags of Fairfield University in a 13-12 overtime thriller on Sunday afternoon at James M. Shuart Stadium.
“We were 2-0 and I think we got really complacent. Fairfield was coming off some really tough wins by one goal and they took it to us tonight and we weren’t ready for the matchup”, said head coach Shannon Smith.
Brenna Connolly sealed the deal for Fairfield with 41 seconds left in overtime after Jillian Winwood slipped a shot past Maddie Fields off a free position shot as time expired in regulation.
Hofstra was handed its first loss of the season after hoping to jump out to a 3-0 record for the first time since 2012. Despite the final decision, the Pride displayed stellar offense yet again.
Alyssa Parrella scored a season-high six goals, including her final tally with 1:23 left in regulation to give Hofstra a 12-11 lead.
Hofstra came out firing early on and found themselves in front 4-0, less than eight minutes into play behind scores from Jenna Budd and Katie Whelan along with a pair of Parrella goals.
“I think we went up four-nothing and started to pack our bags and head home thinking we had the win,” Smith said.
Fairfield found the back of the net for the first time with 21:22 on the clock behind the stick of Winwood and minutes later Kathleen Hulseman had a goal of her own to make it 4-2.
Carlee Ancona added to the Pride scoring outbreak before Winwood scored on the ensuing possession and Connolly followed with her first goal three minutes later to make it a one goal game.
Parrella gathered her third hat trick in three games with an unassisted goal at the 13:23 mark.
Fairfield answered with a 4-0 run behind three Olivia Russell goals to help the Stags head into the half with an 8-6 lead. The Pride outplayed the Stags offensively but were stopped at the gate eight times by goalkeeper Paulina DiFatta.
Hofstra had not trailed all season until Russell’s goal with 3:41 left in the first half.
Budd opened up the second half with her second goal of the day to dampen the deficit but ensuing back-and-forth play kept Fairfield in front by two goals.
Winwood added her third goal of the game as Drew Shapiro sandwiched one in between Connolly’s second on a free position shot to make it 10-8 Fairfield with 20:45 remaining in regulation.
Three straight Hofstra goals off the sticks of Parrella (two) and Shapiro gave the Pride the lead back with 7:54 remaining but Connolly tied it up at 11 with three minutes on the clock.
Parella slithered through a triple-team to score a go-ahead goal with just over a minute to play.
Winwood was fouled with three seconds remaining to give her a free position shot in which she fired a shot past Fields for her fourth goal as time expired to send the game into overtime.
Both teams were scoreless in the first three minutes of action as Shannon Boyle played defense like white on rice for the Pride.
A free position shot with 41 seconds remaining in OT gave Connolly her fourth and final goal of the game to cap off a 13-12 win for Fairfield.
Paulina DiFatta finished with 18 saves for the Stags on 36 Hofstra shots.
The Pride will travel to College Park to take on the University of Maryland on Saturday March 3, at noon.
