Field hockey wins first CAA game over first place William & Mary

On Friday, Oct. 6, the Hofstra University field hockey team topped the College of William & Mary Tribe 1-0 in a shoot-out. With this win, the Pride improved their overall record to 5-6 and 1-2 in conference games. William & Mary fell from first place in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) with this result.

The shoot-out was action-packed, with all four Hofstra players scoring. On the other side of the pitch, fresh off of winning CAA defensive player of the week, goaltender Pieke Roos kept the Pride in the game with nine saves, bringing her to a three-game total of 32 saves and only five goals allowed. Roos held the Pride in the game long enough to reach the shoot-out, in which she made three saves in five attempts. The Pride offense came alive, converting on all four attempts led by Cami Valor who scored the game-winner and her first goal of the season. Valor rushed in and drove the ball past goaltender Maddie George on a clean reverse chip.

The Pride gave W&M a corner under a minute into the game. Hofstra was able to defend the corner and the early press by William & Mary until freshman Jamie Lewis led a chance for the Pride that nearly converted. After the first minute, the first quarter of the game saw the Pride jump out to an early edge in possession.

Valor was assessed a yellow card, which tilted possession in favor of William & Mary, who were relentlessly aggressive and forced a lot of mistakes out of the Pride’s defense. The Pride’s offense could not get the ball on the net this period, registering zero shots on goal. Roos held strong on three corners, keeping the score tied going into the half.

William & Mary pushed the pace in the second half, collecting six shots in the fourth quarter alone with three by forward Lauren Curran who totaled seven on the evening. Late in regulation, William & Mary nearly scored on a shot attempt by Curran that the Hofstra defenders blocked and cleared out of harm’s way. 

For the third time this year, Hofstra got a last-second penalty corner attempt. Unlike their last game against Long Island University, they did not convert, pushing the game to overtime, then eventually into a shoot-out. 

With the win over William & Mary, the Pride improved their record to one game under .500 at 5-6 and scored their first CAA conference win. A week after the Tribe lost to No. 4 Duke University, they lost their first CAA game of the season. Overall, William & Mary fell 4-6 overall and 3-1 in the conference. This win for the Pride marks their first over William & Mary since 2015.

The Pride are back in action on Sunday, Oct. 8, against the Old Dominion University Monarchs at 12 p.m. in Norfolk, Virginia.

Photo Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Jim Agnew