Nadine Surak led the Pride to a crucial conference win against the Rams of Virginia Commonwealth on Fri., Sept. 28 in the field hockey team's CAA home opener at the Hofstra University Field Hockey Stadium improving the team's record to 5-5 (1-1 CAA) on the season.
Surak, who has recently been splitting time in the cage with Krisha Giammarco, made her first start in more than a week. Impressed with the junior goalkeeper's success in the net, Head Coach Kathy De Angelis said, "Nadine played outstanding, the best I've ever seen her play. She stepped up as a catalyst, and I couldn't be more proud."
Improving her individual record to 4-1 on the year, Surak said, "Today's win was a great accomplishment, we know we are playing in a great conference with the best teams."
The Pride received a tally in the win column, but the Rams displayed a valiant effort, edging Hofstra 10-4 in penalty corners.
With assistance from Angelina Benaag and Flore van Dessel, Rachel Krumm converted one penalty corner for a goal at 14:16 into the game. VCU, who was unable to capitalize on the other nine penalty corners, had to face the Pride's new penalty corner setup. Surak said, "We worked on a new penalty formation in practice and executed it well in today's game."
Krumm's goal functioned as the only successful offensive drive for the Rams. Surak made eight total saves. The strong and stagnant Hofstra defense aided Surak, making a defensive save on one of the Rams' 19 total shots on goal.
Shannon Alexander and Erica Suitch helped maintain the team's strong defense. The teammates said in comparison to other games, "The defense seemed to communicate especially well." Surak added, "The defense definitely clicked, and it felt good."
De Angelis stated earlier this season that the team was suffered from consistency, communication, and line- up issues. In experimenting with the line-up, Coach moved Suitch, who is usually found in the left backfield to center midfield in Friday's match.
Reyna Farnum, who has been on the sidelines with a second- degree sprain in her left ankle, returned to the field and found herself in a new position. Katy Vitolo stepped into Farnum's right- back position and on Friday, Farnum had to adjust to a new position playing on an ankle that she said, " Is still not one- hundred percent."
Aware that Farnum is not fully recovered, De Angelis said, "Reyna came in at mid- first half, and she did an outstanding job stepping into a new position."
Communication issues, as well as line- up and consistency problems, lessen and diminish as the season moves forward. De Angelis said, "Our communication and ability to gel is a process. We've been working on it, and it's taken longer than expected, but the process is taking form through more collaboration."
Though the Pride did not have a particularly strong offensive day, as the Rams outshot Hofstra 19-7, Charlia Warner and Amy-Lee Levey capitalized on key offensive drives without assistance. Warner scored the first goal of the match at 10:44 as she moved past the defender.
After VCU's Krumm retaliated to Warner's score, Virginia Commonwealth and Hofstra endured about 27:07 of scoreless play when Levey made a difficult backhanded goal at 41:23. The game- winning goal earned Levey the title of "CAA Rookie of the Week."
Hofstra, who went on to beat the Rams 2-1, had difficulty maintaining composure after they scored or were scored on earlier this season. The team displayed a different demeanor against Virginia Commonwealth, as De Angelis said, "We were determined to play strong five minutes before or after a goal, of ours or the other teams."
On Friday, the Pride did not allow the minor issues they have faced throughout the season to interfere in the significant and challenging match up. Focusing on the team's most recent loss to the Drexel Dragons prior to Friday's game, De Angelis said, "We realized we need to come back in confidence, we're here to compete in the CAA."
Erica Suitch, No. 23, and the field hockey team opened up their conference play by splitting contests with James Madison and VCU. They will travel to Old Dominion on Oct. 6. (Jeffrey Herman)