The Hofstra Pride women’s field hockey team took a two-game winning streak on the road to defeat the UMass Lowell River Hawks 4-3 on Friday. Senior Claudia Marin Samper continued to post outstanding performances, scoring two goals and assisting on another. Senior goalie Lauren Saltus posted thirteen saves.
For the first nine minutes of the game, the Pride and the River Hawks each had three shots on goal, but with nothing to show for it. That was until Marin Samper scored her eighth goal of the season at the 9:29 mark, with sophomore Madison Sauve on the assist.
The Pride extended their lead to 2-0 by the unassisted goal of Marin Samper in the 12th minute.
For the next 14 minutes or so, it seemed that nothing was going to stop Hofstra from dominating offensively. Between the 12th minute and the 26th minute, the Pride had eight shots on goal. At the 25:10 mark, German senior Stella Schoen found fellow senior, Emily Gallagher, in the circle for her third goal of the season.
Down 3-0, UMass Lowell had to respond in order to keep the game from getting away. Two minutes after Gallagher’s goal, at the 27:27 mark, the River Hawks answered with an unassisted goal by Torrie Huk. The first half ended with a 3-1 Pride lead.
The River Hawks made sure to start the second half with a fight. They had four shots on goal, one coming from a penalty corner. But even with Marin Samper getting a yellow card, the Hofstra Pride found the back of the net first. As soon as the yellow card was over, Marin Samper came out and assisted Sauve for her fifth goal at the 44:10 mark.
UMass Lowell turned things around, scoring two more unanswered goals.
The first came from Carleen O’Connell, who went unassisted at 44:50. Less than ten minutes later, Georgia Cowderoy assisted Katie Luchino at 52:02 to make it 4-3.
In the end, Sauve’s goal was the difference against the River Hawks. Hofstra improves its record to 5-4 while UMass Lowell stands at 3-4.
Hofstra’s next game is Sunday Sept. 25 against St. Francis University in Piscataway, New Jersey.
The Pride return home to face Fairfield University on Friday, Sept. 30 at 3:30 p.m.