Hofstra women's soccer moves to first place in CAA standings

The Hofstra University women’s soccer team defeated the University of Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens 1-0 on Sunday, Oct. 15, in a Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) matchup at the Hofstra Soccer Stadium. The Pride improved to 11-3-1 overall and 8-1-1 in conference play.

“It was a well-earned win,” said Hofstra head coach Simon Riddiough. “Delaware is a good team and makes you work extra hard to get the ball back. They’re talented, they’re organized, they’re well coached, but we kept plugging away. We kept pressing when we needed to, and I was proud of the consistency and effort we put in for 90 minutes. I think it was just a matter of time before we scored and hoped that we’d get a second one as well, but that wasn’t meant to be, so really happy, really proud of the kids.”

Junior forward Mathilde Braithwaite scored the lone goal in the matchup at the 49th-minute mark. The attack began with sophomore midfielder Aimee Hodgson dribbling toward the box before laying the ball off to open sophomore forward Wiktoria Fronc. Fronc then dribbled into the box before finding sophomore forward Thorhildur Thorhallsdottir on the flank, who sent a cross to the back post, where Braithwaite met the ball with her head, resulting in a powerful header. This marked Braithwaite’s second goal of the season. Fronc recorded her fifth assist, and Thorhallsdottir recorded her fourth assist of the season.

Besides the one goal, both goalkeepers held strong in the net to keep their teams in the game. Graduate student goalkeeper Skylar Kuzmich made three saves for the Pride while senior goalkeeper Kyla Burns also made three saves for the Blue Hens.

Hofstra had 13 total shots with four on goal, and Delaware had four total shots with three on goal. Fronc led the Pride with three total shots.

Hofstra has had the advantage over many of their opponents in the past few games with corner kicks.  In this matchup, the story stayed the same as the Pride had three while the Blue Hens had one.

Four yellow cards were issued during the match – three for Hofstra and one for Delaware. Junior midfielder Olivia Pearse and sophomore midfielders Dagny Run Petursdottir and Millie Davies each picked up a card for the Pride. Lea Panagiotidis picked up the lone yellow for the Blue Hens.

The Pride returns to the pitch on Thursday, Oct. 19, as they face Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey, in another CAA matchup. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.

Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Alexis Friedman