By Jordan Sawyer -- STAFF WRITER Hofstra was no stranger to the scoreboard early on in a 3-2 victory over the Rider University Broncs Wednesday at Hofstra Field Hockey Stadium.
The Pride wasted no time when it came to scoring, as Madison Sauve continued her stellar junior campaign with her seventh goal of the season only 40 seconds into the game.
The early score led to great momentum for Hofstra as they took the lead and never gave it back.
Goals came early and often as the Pride quickly found themselves back on the board, scoring two goals in the first five minutes.
Freshman phenom Philine de Wolf padded onto the lead with her fifth goal of the season as it appeared to ricochet off the stick of a Rider defender and trickle into the goal for a 2-0 Hofstra lead.
“She’s a prolific goal scorer and when she gets in that circle she’s extremely dangerous. If we can get her more leads I think she can even get on the board more than she has,” said Hofstra head coach Kathy De Angelis about her young goal scorer.
Rider was unable to create pressure early on, allowing for the Pride to spend extensive periods of time on offense. Hofstra was able to continue to create opportunities in the first half, but they couldn’t put any more goals on the board.
Since their first two goals five minutes in, the Pride were able to fire seven more shots with three of those shots on goal, all blocked or saved by Rider defenders.
Rider continued to mishandle the ball as Pride defender Hannah Zemaitis was a defensive thorn in the Broncs’ side all day, creating turnovers and leading to a multitude of offensive opportunities.
The pesky defense of the Pride kept them on offense the majority of the first half which didn’t allow Rider to get their first shot off until 15 minutes into action.
The Broncs were able to capitalize off a Hofstra turnover with a minute left in the half, turning it into a 2-1 Hofstra lead.
The Broncs were indirectly able to tire out the Pride, who had exerted all their energy on offense in the first half, and come out of the stables running in the second half.
“Sometimes it’s more of a mental game but we did look tired. Rider put on so much fire in the second half, I have to credit their attack and tenacity,” De Angelis said.
It appeared as though Hofstra came out in the second with a first half hangover, allowing for Rider to control play for the first time all day. The newfound dynamic duo of Sauve and de Wolf didn’t let that last, as Hofstra drew first blood in the second half.
Suave found her offensive counterpart de Wolf out in front of the net, who made it look easy as she tapped the ball past the outstretched stick of Broncs goalie Lena Vandam.
“Both those two get gelling so well on the line that one’s passing to the other and one’s scoring; it’s been so exciting to see those two combined,” De Angelis said.
Rider was able to pressure the Pride again late, firing a high shot over the head of Carys Swan, finding the top of net to make it a 3-2 game late in the second half.
However, Hofstra hunkered down and played stout defense down the stretch, stopping the Broncs attempt at a comeback and preserving the one-goal lead.
The Hofstra field hockey team will play host to Saint Joseph’s University Friday afternoon at 4 p.m., where the Pride will look to continue this hot streak and upset the No. 21 team in the country.
“We have nothing to lose against a team ranked 21st and we know that, this will be a great test for us before league play,” De Angelis said. “We’re going to go out and play as hard as we can and see what we can do.”