By Mike Rudin – SPORTS EDITOR Although the Hofstra Field Hockey team has hit a rough patch, going under .500 after three straight losses, the Pride showed tremendous potential after their 1-0 loss to No. 7 University of Albany.
“It was a fantastic game and I’m absolutely so proud of how we performed,” said head coach Kathy DeAngelis. “We had a lot of chances. We played great defense and it was our defensive structure overall and individual defense that really allowed us the opportunities we had on the attack.”
Hofstra came out going toe-to-toe with the Albany Great Danes within the first half, both teams shut down the other team’s offense in the first 35-minute period.
After the Pride lost two straight and returned to their home field, they weren’t going down without a fight and proved it by limiting Albany to four shots within the first half.
Hofstra matched Albany through ball possession, which gave the Pride a couple offensive bids to threaten the Great Danes. But multiple passes from the midfield went out of reach of the forwards, which proved to be costly.
“We were a little anxious,” said DeAngelis. “I thought we were playing really sound and when we had been given those kind of opportunities, we might’ve been a little frantic and pushed some of those passes and not [been] as poised as we could’ve been.”
Hofstra collected one shot-on-goal by Claudia Marin Samper through the entire first half while the Great Danes fired four shots – one of which, by Anna Bottino, resulted in granting Albany a 1-0 lead going into the second half.
During halftime, Kathy DeAngelis talked to her squad about how well they performed in the first period and got them fired up going into the second.
“Number one, we were playing great hockey and really didn’t need to change a thing. We really needed to maintain what we were doing.
When you’re playing a team of that caliber, a team that has gone to the final four and the championship against UConn last year and return pretty much the entire team [for 2015], [and] you know you’re faced with the most challenging game [you’ve had] and you’re playing that well, why change anything?”
Hofstra managed to improve their communications on the attacking third and the defense stayed in sync, which led to the Pride taking more opportunities.
Hofstra took 10 shots altogether in the second half – six of which were on target – but the Albany goalkeeper, Maxi Primus, kept the Pride off the board despite their resilient effort.
Hofstra also gathered two extra opportunities through the penalty corners but no luck as Albany’s defense held down the fort to secure the win.
Although the execution on offense wasn’t there, Kathy DeAngelis thought this was the biggest test of the season and her team handled it well.
“There [were] a lot of times we dominated this game and we’re really happy about that. I think our ball possession skills and technical skills [were good and] we were tactically prepared for the game. It’s promising to play that great against such a quality opponent.”
Before the Pride returned home, Hofstra competed in two away games that resulted in back-to-back losses.
The matchup against No. 20 Boston University last Sunday hosted an early offensive flurry in the first half pre-determined Hofstra’s fate.
The Boston Terriers scored four straight goals within the first 30 minutes for the 4-0 lead and ultimately out of the Pride’s reach by the end of the match.
Claudia Marin Samper cut the lead to 4-1 after a breakaway led to an ample scoring opportunity – she executed it well to supply Hofstra’s first goal of the game.
The Pride’s defense was overrun by Boston’s offense and Hofstra wasn’t able to adapt within the first 33 minutes of regulation.
The Pride felt the pressure from Boston’s early bombardment as they endured 14 shots plus six penalty corners by the Terriers in the first half alone.
Hofstra’s goalkeeper, Carys Swan, tried to put the team on her back as she made eight saves in the first half and 11 altogether to give the Pride a sliver of hope.
But even with the scoring efforts of Marin Samper before halftime, BU came back strong again with back-to-back goals as insurance.
Hofstra attempted to get back in the game, retaliating back with two straight goals by the Schoen sisters, Stella and Simca respectively. But it was too little too late since, after Simca’s goal, Hofstra had less than five minutes of regulation left to combat a three-goal deficit.
Hofstra’s first loss of the season came last Friday in their third matchup against the University of Maine Black Bears. The Pride succumbed to a 3-2 loss to Maine with similar traits to their following losses to Boston University and Albany.
Hofstra lost by one goal and the Black Bears had an early rally that ultimately decided the game within the first half.
Maine started out strong offensively, having opened the game with three straight goals within the first 56 minutes.
The Pride’s offense couldn’t hold a candle to Maine’s ability of capitalizing on their shots. Hofstra made four in the first half but didn’t score while Maine scored on all three shots in the first period.
Hofstra’s six saves kept them well in contention as they fought back. The three-goal deficit was cut with back-to-back shots, shrinking the Black Bear’s lead to one goal. But the Pride managed to score both in the last 10 minutes and after their second goal, they had less than three minutes left to tie the game.
Maine kept the Pride offense at bay and drew out the clock to win the game 3-2 and hand Hofstra their first loss of the season.
Hofstra will look to snap the losing streak and get back on a winning track this Friday against Rider University at 4:00 p.m. at the Hofstra Field Hockey Stadium.