By Jordan Sawyer -- STAFF WRITER
Hofstra Field Hockey Stadium played host to a large crowd on Friday, as the Pride welcomed Pennsylvanian powerhouse St. Joseph’s University to town in a 5-0 loss.
Before a first half primarily driven by tough defense, the two teams shook hands at midfield following starting lineups and the national anthem.
“We push our players every day to carry themselves with that type of class and sportsmanship and to see another team have that type of attitude is wonderful,” said Hofstra head coach Kathy De Angelis following the game.
Hofstra started off strong with a steal on the first possession of the game, which led to their first shot and penalty corner. The corner led to another shot, which was blocked by St. Joseph’s.
In yet another game, the Pride’s persevering pressure allowed for them to create opportunities on offense. Freshman Hannah Zemaitis continued to display disruptive defense as Hofstra controlled play early on.
St. Joe’s ripped through a seam in the defense and fired a shot past goalkeeper Carys Swan only to be saved by the outstretched stick of defender Taylor Mumley.
After a slide-kick save by Swan, the Hawks took their first penalty corner 20 minutes into the first half. The corner set up the reigning Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Year, Anna Willocks, to send a screaming slapshot past Swan for the first score of the game.
Despite the deficit, the Pride did not take their foot off the gas and rode their tenacity into the half down by just one goal.
The second half started the same as the first, as both teams were able to pressure each other into missed opportunities. However, the depth of St. Joe’s became apparent in the second half as substitutions allowed for starters to rest without the heart of the Hawks skipping a beat.
The Hawks continued to capitalize on penalty corners as Willocks found the back of the net for her second time, making it 2-0.
Swan continued to sacrifice herself, which led to a sequence of stellar saves for the senior tender. Unfortunately, Swan couldn’t hold off the Hawks’ offensive barrage forever.
St. Joe’s seemed to always find an open teammate ready to fire a shot out of a cannon and into the net, as great passing for the Hawks led to two more goals in a three-minute period, making it 4-0 with 14 minutes left to play.
In the waning minutes of the game, the Hawks’ Kayla Walker took a page out of the book of Bobby Orr as she went soaring to score the final goal of the game, capping off a 5-0 victory for the Hawks.
“Despite the score, it wasn’t a bad game … we struggled to execute our corner attack today. We need to work on that,” De Angelis said.
Hofstra will enter conference play next Friday in Virginia against the College of William and Mary.