Towson extends women's lacrosse's home losing streak to four

The Hofstra women’s lacrosse team continued its home losing streak in a tight 11-10 overtime loss to Towson University on Saturday, April 16, at James M. Shuart Stadium.

 Although the Pride’s Katie Whelan snagged the first draw control of the game, Towson was quick to press for possession, signaling the start of a close game throughout. The Tigers were the first to leave their mark on the scoreboard, just over three and a half minutes in the game. It took four minutes of trading the ball before the Pride answered with a Taylor Mennella free-position goal.

 Three minutes later, senior attacker Amanda Guerra gutted Towson’s defense when she threw her entire body weight to propel herself closer to the goalie to find the back of the net for the Pride. The Tigers responded with two goals of their own, the last being ten seconds before the end-of-quarter buzzer sounded.

Finishing every quarter, except the first, in a tie spoke to how tight the scoring was throughout the rest of the matinee match. Towson’s freshman midfielder Milana Zizakovic was so close to the goal when she got the ball from attacker Halley Koras that it looked like she scored an alley-oop when she found the back of the net. Hofstra retaliated by passing the goalie three times in the remainder of the frame to even out the score to 5-5 before the first half ended.

Defender Shannon Boyle propelled the Pride into the third quarter with an initial draw control, followed by two more later in the frame. Although the Tigers were the first to net their goals in the third quarter, this did not stop the Pride from giving their all when Whelan netted her second goal of the contest four and a half minutes into the quarter. Her teammates kept the momentum going when attacker Lauren Coletti scored 73 seconds later, bringing the Pride up to 7-7 against the Tigers. Erin Demek followed up with a goal of her own, standing calmly in the middle of Towson’s defense.

The Tigers didn’t maintain their mild attitude for long, scoring in quick succession in the last three minutes of the third quarter. That didn’t mean the Pride was ready to throw in the towel; Whelan showed her signature wind-up before she completed a hat trick, bringing the score up to 9-9.

The fourth quarter was quiet, one goal each traded between the teams, showing how hungry the Tigers and the Pride were for an overtime battle.

Woman’s lacrosse head coach Shannon Smith was confident in the team’s abilities going into overtime, after seeing a hard-fought 60 minutes.

“I thought our defense was playing really well,” Smith said. “And we were getting a lot of opportunities offensively.”

The first three-minute segment of overtime yielded more ball possession trading, which prompted another segment of overtime. Towson decided to wrap up the day then and there when Gabby Garrett netted the eleventh and final goal just 66 seconds in.

The Pride will have their next shot at redemption on Saturday, April 23, in their faceoff against the College of William & Mary at the Martin Family Stadium in Williamsburg, Virginia, at 1 p.m.

Photo courtesy of Evan Bernstein/The Hofstra Chronicle