By John Grimaldi - SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE Hofstra dominated the College of Charleston in women’s soccer on Sunday, defeating them by a score of 5-1.
“It’s a good bounce-back victory, especially from Friday afternoon [against UNC Wilmington],” said head coach Simon Riddiough. “I think we were disappointed as a team Friday in our own performance, individually, and losing at home always hurts a little bit. So, to bounce back today with a good, dominant performance, especially the second half, shows a lot of character from us.”
Both Hofstra and Charleston had just six shots in the first half, with the lone goal coming off a free kick by Emily Agudelo and headed in by Chloe Dale in the 17th minute, the senior’s first goal in her time at Hofstra.
Despite the lead, Riddiough wasn’t totally pleased with his team’s first half performance.
“It should have been 1-0 College [of Charleston], they were the much better team, and they were the more aggressive team,” said Riddiough. “I called some individuals out, told them that we just weren’t good enough, and they rebounded and reacted positively.”
They responded, as Hofstra’s offense exploded in the second half of play, scoring four goals.
The bevy of second half goals started with Leah Galton, who scored her 10th goal of the season off of a cross from Kristin Desmond in the 59th minute.
Eight minutes later, Desmond took it upon herself to score, her 4th goal of the season, with and assist from Jill Mulholland.
Defender Madeline Anderson then scored off of a corner kick from Jeannine Molleda in the 76th minute, and the last of the Pride’s goals came unassisted from Sabrina Barton off of a steal on an errant Charleston pass.
The Pride will go on the road for three straight games against conference rivals in Towson, James Madison, and Northeastern.
“In this conference, winning away is extremely difficult…it’s never easy,” said Riddiough. “They’re three very tough teams, but not unbeatable.”
Hofstra improves to 9-4 overall, and 3-1 in conference play with the win over Charleston. Combined with the UNC Wilmington loss to Northeastern, the Pride has moved up to second place in the CAA standings, now only trailing James Madison for the top spot, whom they play October 11th at Harrisonburg, Va.