By Juliana Battaglia -- STAFF WRITER
The Hofstra field hockey team came up empty 3-0 in Sunday afternoon’s matchup against the No. 25-ranked Monmouth University Hawks, who outshot the Pride 20-5.
It was a tightly contested defensive match in the first half, with both teams matching each other with three penalty corners and saves apiece, but senior Mallory Kusakavitch’s goal near the end of the half sparked the beginning of Monmouth’s offensive rout.
Juniors Kelly Hannah and Elyssa Okken would score the team’s second and third goals in the second half. Monmouth compiled 14 shots and seven penalty corners in the second half, as Hofstra’s defense was unable to keep them at bay, but goalkeeper Carys Swan did make some important saves to prevent the Hawks from putting a much larger number on the scoreboard.
With their second consecutive loss, the Pride slips to 6-9 on the season with the Hawks improving to 9-3. Hofstra head coach Kathy De Angelis contributes the loss to her team’s inability to adjust against Monmouth’s surge of momentum.
“We really struggled with footwork and our defensive third ... our press was broken several times ... we tried to [make adjustments] several times in the second half and we just couldn’t and I think that led to them getting a lot of opportunities,” De Angelis said.
She explained that in order to rebound, the upperclassmen need to step up into leadership roles, but it is difficult to do so with such a young squad.
The Pride’s offensive struggles continue, as they have only managed to score five goals in their last five games, four of them coming in their victory against Towson University.
“Our transition game was not very good today where it had been against Towson,” De Angelis said. “As soon as we come up with the ball we’ve got to look to transition … There’s a lot of hesitation and we’ve got to be more decisive.”
Hofstra hopes to bounce back next week as they host St. Francis University in their final non-conference matchup of the season on Sunday, Oct. 15 at noon.