By Gio Annatelli - STAFF WRITER
Hofstra came away with a win on Friday night at Johnny Unitas Stadium, defeating Towson University 4-2 in a Colonial Athletic Association matchup. This is the Pride’s fourth straight win.
Junior midfielder Charlotte Loehr and sophomore forward and midfielder Stella Schoen each tallied a goal and an assist to lead Hofstra to the key conference victory. This was the Tigers eighth straight loss, as they plummeted to 2-13 overall and 0-4 in the conference.
Even though Hofstra dominated the first 20 minutes of play, Towson struck first. Junior Heather Jenney took a pass from senior Kelsey Fielder and got her fourth goal of the season with 13:33 to play in the first half.
It didn’t take long for the Pride to answer, as five minutes later senior midfielder Marta Penas picked up a rebound and beat Towson freshman goalie Emilee Woodall to tie the game up. This was Penas’ first goal of the season.
Loehr, a native of Mainz, Germany, assisted on Schoen’s goal at the end of the first half to put Hofstra ahead going into halftime, 2-1. This was Schoen’s fifth goal of the season. Native German, Schoen, assisted on Hofstra’s third goal of the night, which came from senior forward Jonel Boileau with 7:16 into the second half on a fast break. Boileau beat replacement goalie Megan Boyle for her 12th goal of the season.
With 20:07 left in the game, Towson gave Hofstra a run for their money and cut the lead to one. The goal came from Heather Jenney, which came off of a Pride turnover. However, the Pride breathed a sigh of relief following Loehr’s ninth goal of the season with 15:55 left to secure the victory.
Freshman goalkeeper Carys Swan made three saves and picked up her 11th win of the season. The Pride outshot Towson 14-6 and had an 8-2 advantage on penalty corners.
The team remained hot after defeating the defending conference champions, the Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens, on Sunday afternoon at Fred Rullo stadium, 5-2. This was the team’s fifth straight win.
The team improved to 12-5 overall and 3-1 in CAA play. Delaware falls to 10-7 overall and 4-1 in the CAA. Hofstra is now in a three-way tie for second place with William and Mary and Northeastern. The top four teams in the league will advance to the Colonial Athletic Association championship to be held at the top seed’s home field from Nov. 7 to Nov. 9.
Team captain and forward Jonel Boileau had a hat trick on Sunday, the first of her season and the third of her career. She scored once in the first half and twice in the second. Sophomore forward and midfielder Stella Schoen had a career-high three assists, assisting all of Boileau’s goals.
Boileau’s 15 goals of the season put her in a tie for sixth on the Hofstra’s single-season goal list. Her 47 career goals bump her up to fourth all-time in goals in program history. She also moved to fourth all-time in career-points with 111.
Senior defender and midfielder Holly Andrews started the scoring off at the 23:42 minute mark on a penalty stroke. This was Andrews’s first goal of the season. Four minutes later, Boileau scored the first goal of her hat trick. With three minutes after that, sophomore forward and midfielder Claudia Marin-Samper scored her 13th goal of the season to make it 3-0 going into the second half. Hofstra outshot the Blue Hens 8-7 in the first half.
It didn’t take long for Delaware to score coming out of the half, 2:55 in, sophomore Maddie O’Beirne tallied her first goal of the season. Boileau got her second goal with another hat trick to improve the lead to 5-1. Delaware junior Michaela Patzner closed out the scoring for the game in the 66th minute on a penalty stroke for her ninth goal of the season.
The Blue Hens outshot the Pride 7-4 in the second half and 14-12 in the game. Freshman goalkeeper Carys Swan made five saves for her 12th win of the season. Delaware had nine penalty corners while Hofstra only had seven.
The Pride will host William and Mary on Friday at the Hofstra Field Hockey stadium at 3:00 p.m. They will also host James Madison University on Sunday for their final regular season weekend of play.