By Jeff Werner -- STAFF WRITER The Hofstra Pride women’s lacrosse team tried to turn its misfortunes at the 2016 home opener against Fairfield, but the Pride lost 13-12 at Shuart Stadium on Saturday.
With 29 seconds left in the game, Hofstra goaltender Maddie Fields stared at the Fairfield Stags attacker Julieanne Mascera in front of her. A free position was awarded to Mascera in front of the goal. Fields knew that one stop could’ve kept the game alive and virtually sent it to overtime. The referee blew the whistle, the Stags attacker charged towards the goal and Fields got ready. Mascera fired the ball towards Fields and there was a roar that came from the Stags players, celebrating the game-winning shot.
“It’s a tough one to swallow,” head coach Shannon Smith said during the post-game interview. “It’s just we are making silly mistakes that are costing us like causing turnovers and losing draws. Offensively, we held ourselves together and stayed in the game but we’re going to have to remain positive and just keep trying to figure this out.”
Hofstra’s Lindsay Scott kept the Pride in contention with a career-high seven goals.
For most of the game, Hofstra had to play catch up. The Pride was down 4-1 early in the first half when Scott, who had scored her team’s only goal up to the point, flourished on offense. Scott added four more goals in the first half and Becky Conto added a goal to the effort to tie the Pride and Stags at six going into halftime.
The beginning of the second half went back and forth as the Pride grabbed the lead and the Stags responded. When the game was tied at 8-8, Tiana Parrella shot the ball into the net and gave Hofstra what looked like a 9-8 lead when the referees waved their arms to disallow the goal.
“Her stick was illegal,” Coach Smith explained. “That was something that cost us.”
The momentum had changed in favor of Fairfield. Eventually, the Pride scored that ninth goal to tie it but the Stags responded with two consecutive goals, putting themselves ahead 11-9.
Hofstra and Fairfield later exchanged goals again before Scott and Conto scored two goals to tie at 12. But the comeback effort fell short as the last-minute goal sealed the 13-12 win for the Stags.
Hofstra drops to 0-3 to start 2016 while Fairfield improves to 2-2. Despite collecting five saves, Fields’ first time as the starting goalie ends with her goals allowed average inflating to 11.68.
The Pride has a tough road trip coming up for them, as they travel to Maryland to take on the nationally top-ranked Maryland Terrapins on Saturday at noon and then 17th-ranked John Hopkins Blue Jays on March 13 at 1 p.m.