Hofstra field hockey shut out by Monmouth

The Hofstra field hockey team was defeated by the visiting Monmouth University Hawks in a Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) duel at Hofstra Field Hockey Stadium on Friday, Oct. 14, as the Pride couldn’t recover from two second half goals by the Hawks.

With the loss, Hofstra drops to 6-7 overall and 1-2 in CAA play. Monmouth now holds the third spot in the CAA standings, while Hofstra is second to last. Despite the loss, Hofstra head coach Courtney Veinotte believes making the conference tournament is still a possibility.

"It was really anybody's game," Veinotte said. "It's still early with the conference; it's not out of the picture for making this tournament, and it's just one game at a time kind of thought process here."

The first half ended with no goals, but the Hawks came into the third quarter fired up. Four minutes into the quarter Monmouth earned their sixth penalty corner of the game. Monmouth’s Annick van Lange, who entered the match as the CAA's top scorer, struck from the edge of the circle past Pride goalkeeper Merlijn van der Vegt to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead. Van der Vegt made a magnificent stop on the initial effort from van Lange, but couldn’t stop the second chance from going in. With just a few seconds left in the fourth quarter, the Hawks tacked on another goal for good measure as Jess Tucker whacked the ball out of the air and into the goal as regulation wound down for her third goal of the season.

Although the Pride outshot Monmouth 15-13, the Hawks landed more shots on goal, 8-7. Between the pipes, van der Vegt made six stops for the Pride. Van der Vegt is now tied with Kaitlyn De Turo for the 10th most saves in a career at Hofstra. Lieke Gorsse had two shots on goal and a team-high of five shots.

Van Lange had five shots on goal for Monmouth and a game-high seven total shots. Phileine Hazen made six saves in the triumph while earning her first career shutout victory.

"It was great to get another CAA win behind a strong performance by Phileine,” said Monmouth head coach Carli Figio. “We fought hard to score again at the end, and we capitalized."

The Pride will host their final CAA home game of the season on Sunday, Oct. 16, when they host the No. 25 College of William & Mary. The first whistle will sound at noon.

Photo courtesy of Neil Miller/Hofstra Athletics