Pride rolls in Roos' first career shutout

The Hofstra field hockey team recorded their third shutout of the season on Friday, Sept. 23, defeating Sacred Heart University 3-0 at the Hofstra Field Hockey Stadium. 

Both net minders were tested early on. In the opening quarter, the Pride’s Jamie Mc Millan was awarded a penalty corner, but after her shot was deflected, Tara McNally took another shot at the ball that bounced off of Pioneer’s goalie Samantha Maresca’s leg guards back out to the goal line. A rebound attempt from Mc Millan was blocked as well. 

On the other end, Pieke Roos, Hofstra’s freshman goalie from the Netherlands who started in place of Merlijn van der Vegt, dove out of the goal box to block the Pioneers from scoring. 

“[Roos is] an incredibly athletic goalie,” said Hofstra head coach Courtney Venoitte. “She’s very fast, she can challenge balls, pop back up and get into position very quickly, and she’s also an incredible person. She has this spark within our team. She’s a very good leader, and I can see her playing that role in the future.”

Cami Valor broke the stalemate late in the first quarter, putting the Pride ahead 1-0 with her first goal of the season.  

Simryn Desai joined in on the scoring action late in the second quarter by netting her second score of the year off of a feed from Cami Larsson, stretching Hofstra’s lead to 2-0. 

The Pioneers attempted to cut into the Pride’s lead before the close of the opening half but ran into Hofstra’s Sydney LeGuillow, who blocked two shot attempts to keep Sacred Heart off the scoreboard.

The Pioneers tightened up their defense in the second half, as goalie Maresca racked up 13 saves but remained without an answer on offense.

As desperation mounted, Sacred Heart took more risks and became more aggressive as time counted down. 

In the final nine minutes of the fourth quarter, the Pride earned another penalty corner. Mc Millan set up the play with a pass to Larsson to secure the win, whose shot was stopped once again by Maresca in goal. Off of the rebound, LeGuillow stopped the ball from getting too far back into the field and scored her first goal season and her first since 2019.

Roos earned her first win and shutout as goalkeeper. 

The victory moves the Pride’s record to 4-5, as they remain undefeated historically against Sacred Heart. 

The Pride’s next contest comes against Northeastern University at home on Friday, Sept. 30, at 3 p.m. in their first Colonial Athletic Association match of the season.

Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics