Field Hockey loses in critical CAA match against Towson

The Hofstra University field hockey team fell 1-0 to Towson University at home on Friday, Oct. 13. The Pride moves to 1-3 in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play with the loss and a season record of 5-8.

“Our journey isn’t over,” said Hofstra head coach Courtney Veinotte. “We’ve just made it super challenging. If we could finish out 3-3 in the conference, we’re still in a position to squeeze into that tournament, but we’re putting our work to us with it. I expect that we do everything we can for these two games and it’s going to have to be a bit of a different energy than what we gave today.”

The sole goal of the game came halfway through the third quarter by Towson’s Samantha Aljets with an assist by Lexi Bove. A pass to Hofstra’s Teresa Karoff slipped beneath her stick, allowing Bove to take the ball before sending a pass to Aljets. She then worked around Hofstra goalkeeper Pieke Roos to score.

The goal was one of the nine shots the Tigers took during the game, including one shot just minutes later that went into the goal but was called back for being shot from outside of the circle.

“In the fourth quarter we just played a little bit panicky after finding ourselves down one nothing,” Veinotte said.

The Pride ended with 11 total shots, taking just one shot in the fourth quarter. Tara McNally led Hofstra with five shots followed by Cami Valor with two.

Roos made two saves in the fourth quarter adding to 50 saves total in her last five games. Towson goalkeeper Tessa Scheenstra made seven saves during the game.

“It’s crucial for our players to come together and show and find a way to win, and learning how to win is imperative,” Veinotte said.

The loss pushes Hofstra to No. 6 in the CAA standings with just two more conference games left in the season. The first against Northeastern University on Friday, Oct. 20, and the second against Monmouth University on Friday, Oct. 27.

The Pride’s next game will be a nonconference match-up against Quinnipiac University, in Hamden, Connecticut, on Sunday, Oct. 15, at 12 p.m.

Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Keith Lucas