The Hofstra University women’s soccer team won their second straight game with a 2-0 victory over Hampton University. The Pride are now 6-2-6 overall and 4-1-2 in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play.
Before the game, the Pride honored seniors Louise Hayden, Matilda Liljefors, Ellie Gough, Mackenzie Sullivan, Mathilde Braithwaite, Gabriella Marte and Olivia Pearse. All of them walked out with their friends and family in celebration.
“It’s great to finish senior day on a win,” said Hofstra head coach Simon Riddiough. “I’m happy with the girls, I’m happy with this class. They’ve done a lot of growing up. When they came in as freshmen, they were way behind when it came to maturity and now they’re women and that’s probably the proudest I am of this group.”
With the win, Hofstra sits in fourth place in the conference standings, just one point out of first.
“It’s a win, it’s three points,” Riddiough said. “Comfortable, but fair play to Hampton. They gave everything they got. Disappointed in some of our decisions in the final third, but that sometimes happens in these kinds of games.”
The Pride were powered by goals from Braithwaite and Marte. Braithwaite’s finish was her fourth of the year, while Marte notched her first.
“Ecstatic that [Marte] got some rewards,” Riddiough said. “She’s been a fantastic leader for us and [Braithwaite] was unbeatable in that first half… great goals from both of them, so happy about that.”
Despite scoring two goals, Hofstra could have scored more, forcing Pirates goalkeeper Avery John to make a career-high 13 saves.
“The message was, we were wasteful,” Riddiough said. “[John] made some great saves but there were opportunities which didn’t go close to the goal which we should’ve scored.”
The Pride were dominant for large portions of the match. Though only leading by one at the break, Hofstra led Hampton 19-0 in shots in the first 45 minutes. The Pride recorded a massive 31 shots in the game.
“You can’t have 31 shots and only score two goals,” Riddiough said. “Our expectation is to win the conference and to dominate at certain times. We’re not willing to take that pressure…You don’t win championships that way.”
The second half was a bit more competitive. Hampton recorded five shots, forcing one save from freshman goalkeeper Synne Danielsen.
Danielsen and Sullivan split goalkeeping duties during the match. This was the first action Sullivan had seen since Thursday, Oct. 3, against Drexel University.
Though the Pride could have added to their lead, they sought out the victory and kept a clean sheet, their third of the season. Hampton was limited to just one shot on target, a season-best for the Pride defensively.
Ten Hofstra players had shots during the game, six players had at least three shots and seven players made a shot on target.
The Pride will hit the road this week as they travel to North Carolina to take on Elon University on Thursday, Oct. 17. Three CAA games remain this season before the conference tournament starts on Thursday, Oct. 31.
Photo courtesy of Ethan Albin
