By John Napolitano -- STAFF WRITER It took 20 minutes in the first half for the Hofstra offense to come alive, but the Pride was able to route Quinnipiac 4-2 for its third win of the season at Hofstra Field Hockey Stadium on Saturday.
The bright blue sky and lazy afternoon breeze were not the only differences from Hofstra’s previous rain-soaked game against the University of New Hampshire; the Pride’s previous offensive lull had become a distant memory against the Quinnipiac Bobcats.
After being outshot 24-3 against New Hampshire, the Pride matched Quinnipiac with 10 shots each, all of them on goal.
Hofstra’s Madison Sauve led the charge, converting two precise passes from Marloes Schavemaker for her fourth and fifth goals of the season. Hannah Zemaitis and Philine de Wolf pitched in for two goals in the first half. Zemaitis notched the first in her career, besting the persistent Quinnipiac defense.
“We definitely created more opportunities in the attacking circle today, and that’s done with a lot of off-ball movement – just pure wet-work ethic,” said Hofstra head coach Kathy De Angelis.
Schavemaker was certainly keen to her teammates’ off-ball movement, assisting in three of Hofstra’s four goals. Her first assist came in the form of a bullet pass to Sauve from outside the arch. Sauve then spun away from traffic in front of the net and blasted a backhand shot above the goalie’s reach into the top of the twine. Schavemaker now has five points this season.
“She’s [Schavemaker] a great support to the striker line, and having that type of support in the midline really created those opportunities for Sauve and Philine down the road,” said De Angelis.
The underpinning of this Hofstra team, Carys Swan, was a brick wall between the posts. The senior net-minder recorded six saves in goal and remained headstrong when Quinnipiac dominated ball possession in the Hofstra zone. Quinnipiac’s back-to-back goals from Michelle Federico and Valerie Perkins came in the first 10 minutes of the second half, but Swan plugged the hole and stayed tough for the last 25 minutes. Following Saturday’s game, Swan’s save percentage totaled to .750.
“Quinnipiac is very strong in their transition game, and they’ve got some prolific scorers, but I think she [Swan] did a great job of organizing our backline and our midline. Particularly, in the second half, it got a little but tougher, and they were coming on a lot stronger,” said De Angelis.
Hofstra is back in action on Sunday against Yale at Hofstra Field Hockey Stadium. Game time is slated for 2 p.m.