Mennella's double hat trick secures Hofstra's victory over Elon on Senior Day

The sun shined brightly over the Hofstra women’s lacrosse team and their 18-12 victory over the Pheonix of Elon University during Senior Day celebrations at James M. Shuart Stadium on Saturday, April 30.

The Pride was off to a rough start when Elon midfielder Sammy Fisher sneaked past the Hofstra defense and notched a goal just 40 seconds into the first quarter. To follow up, attacker Gillian Curran contributed a goal of her own just a minute later to double Elon’s lead.

With 12:30 left on the clock, the Pride decided that they had had enough when senior attacker Grace Langella found the back of the net, signaling the start of five consecutive goals before the Pheonix could respond with just less than six minutes to go in the quarter. Silent until nearly 11 minutes into the game, Hofstra attacker and co-captain Katie Whelan answered Elon’s latest goal with one of her own, assisted by midfielder Kate Fiola, ending the first quarter at 6-3 with the Pride leading.

“I think our slow start contributed to the emotions we were having,” said Hofstra women’s lacrosse head coach Shannon Smith, keeping in mind the 11 seniors that the team sent off. “I thought we responded really well, stayed really composed, and [our] offense came up big.”

The second quarter started tame until Hofstra senior attacker Amanda Guerra made it look like she had real estate on the visiting team’s crease as she launched herself across the goalie’s doorstep to net a goal nearly eight minutes in. Junior attacker Taylor Mennella kept the momentum going when she completed a hat trick at 9:56, scoring her 30th goal of the season. Whelan added her second goal of the day just 37 seconds later, but Elon was quick to put a stop to the Pride’s impetus when attackers Cierra Hopson and Bella Feldmann scored within nearly 30 seconds of each other. Mennella found the back of the net with 66 seconds left in the first half, and so did the Pheonix with six seconds left in the first half, leaving the score at 10-6 going into halftime.

Whelan was ready to keep advancing the Pride’s score in the third quarter when she completed a hat trick just 41 seconds into the second half. After that, the two teams traded possession for a heated nine minutes until Kerry Walser was able to tip the scale in Hofstra’s favor with 4:57 left in the third quartrer. Pheonix players Camryn Levin and Emma Flynn both got past the home goalie at 12:46 and 13:32, but that didn’t stop Mennella from scoring her fifth goal of the day just 18.8 seconds before the buzzer sounded, ending the third quarter with Hofstra dominating Elon 13-8.

“We’re all playing for each other, we’re all playing for all of the seniors, and we wanted to just have fun on the field,” Mennella said,

In the fourth quarter, the Pride and the Pheonix had a change of pace, taking turns trading goals instead of possessions. Hofstra attacker Langella catapulted the Pride into the fourth quarter when she scored her second goal just 49 seconds in, and Elon’s Curran had a similar idea when she netted her second goal of the day just a minute later. Langella, assisted by Mennella, scored again nearly four minutes into the frame, and Elon’s Hannah McCarthy countered with a goal of her own just 29 seconds later. Phoenix midfielder doubled down Elon’s scoring with a free position goal at 8:23. With five minutes left to play, Hofstra midfielder Gatti found the back of the net for the 10th time this season, which was soon met with another Feldmann goal at 10:51. This pushed Hofstra to rally back and conclude the game with a goal at 12:49, and another with 43 seconds left, finishing the day 18-12.

Coming out on top over Elon bolsters the Pride’s position in the Colonial Athletic Association playoffs; their next match is against Drexel University on May 6 in Philadelphia, PA, at Vidas Field. Draw control is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Photo Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics