By PJ Potter - STAFF WRITER
For the first time in her four-year career, women’s soccer midfielder Chloe Dale scored a goal as a member of the Pride on Oct. 4.
“It was a bit of a messy one,” the senior from England said. “It wasn’t the cleanest of goals.”
With no score in the 18th minute against the College of Charleston, Hofstra was set up for a corner kick. Emily Agudelo launched the ball into the box to find the awaiting Dale, which deflected off her head, ricocheting to her shoulder to skid past the goalie’s left side.
“No one knew who scored at first, but when they realized it was me, everyone was really excited. I waited a long time for this, it was a great experience,” Dale said.
The Pride ended the match with a 5-1 victory over the Cougars.
Averaging 89.5 minutes per game this season on the defensive end, Dale has proven to be the workhorse of the squad, starting in every game from her freshman season until now. She has logged over 6,000 minutes in a Hofstra uniform.
Fighting for all jump balls and chances to clear, Chloe treats every minute the same in order to keep the fighter’s mentality.
“It’s great to play the whole game because you can affect things greatly and I’m delighted to play as many minutes as I can. It comes down to the hours we put in during the preseason and training. We work really hard, which sets us up to succeed.”
Dale has accepted her role on the team, which means not always being the player to bask in all of the glory. Totaling just eight shots for the season and 50 for her career, Chloe knows the type of player she needs to be to help her team win.
“Simon (head coach Riddiough) told us we’re all going to have different roles. I know I’m not the goal scorer of the team. I don’t really care what my job is. It’s a pleasure to be playing on the field with my teammates and whatever my role is, I’m happy to play it,” the native of Birmingham, England said. Chloe actually began her time playing soccer as a striker at age seven, then moved to the midfield for her collegiate career at Merrist Wood College in England, where she was a two-time Player of the Year winner for the 2010-2011 seasons.
There, Dale was more of an offensive midfielder, meaning she was given many more chances to score. She was also the primary penalty shooter for the team.
Despite celebrating more goals in England, Chloe has found a greater love on the defensive third of the pitch since coming to the United States.
“Attacking-wise, there is a little bit more freedom. When I’m here (at Hofstra), it’s sort of more of a man-marking game,” she said.
Dale finds more pressure on the defensive side, especially when going up against the opposition’s best player. Though it is more of a challenge, she prefers it over being on offense.
Instead of trying to score goals and put her team ahead like she did back home, her goal here is to help her keeper limit the amount of shots taken at her and to post as many shutouts as possible.
Chloe and her teammates on the backend have assisted Hofstra goalie Friederike Mehring to four shutouts this season. In CAA play, the Hofstra defense has kept their opponents shot total at a premium, allowing just 61 over a six-game span.
Hofstra is currently tied for first place in the CAA with Northeastern, who they will face this Friday at Hofstra Soccer Stadium.
Dale says the remainder of the games this season are must-wins. She is up for the challenge against Northeastern, but needs the support from Hofstra students.