By Alana Pelosi, Sports Editor
The women's lacrosse team came up short in a low-scoring match against No.4 Penn as they wrapped up their recent Ivy League road trip.
In the 5-6 defeat, its lowest scoring game this season, the Pride rallied with four goals late in the game but could not muster up another goal to ties the game. Going into the half, the score was a 3-1 in Penn's favor. In a matchup that ultimately came down to solid defense, the Pride's leading scorers for the afternoon were senior Corrine Gandolfi and freshman Jill Maier, with two goals apiece. For a squad that led the country in draw controls entering the game, the Pride came up with only five during the entire game. A big part of that was Gandolfi, who came up with three and the other two came from Maier and junior Bettina Mianulli.
While head coach Abby Morgan said there is no clear-cut starter in the net, senior Mary Cuddihy started Wednesday's game. Cuddihy's 10 saves were her season high. Cuddihy, who started all of last season and the past three games, looks to be starting to regain her starting spot, but Morgan explained in an interview prior to the game that she believes it is great to have the option of two starting goalies. "It's a day-to-day thing," said Morgan. "If we had a game tomorrow we don't know who we would start and it's not just the goalie; it's what happens when you have depth."
This loss comes on the heels of a victory over Cornell, a team that the Pride had struggled against in the past. Late-game rallies seem to be en vogue for the Pride, which the Pride has used in games against Penn and Albany. Against Cornell, the Pride was down 8-10 midway through the second half. Hofstra launched a rally and the defense put up a solid front.
Once the game was tied at 10-10, Cuddihy made one last save and senior K'Leigh Vanaman scored her second goal of the game and freshman Jacquelyn Ardolino added a goal and by game's end it was 12-10 in the Pride's favor. Gandolfi scored three goals and senior Courtney O'Connor scored two in the game. Junior Katie Hertsch contributed two caused turnovers, two groundballs and two draw controls.
With a record of 3-2, the Pride face Rutgers at home on Saturday. The Pride has struggled against the Scarlet Knights but did beat them last season.