Hofstra come back effort falls short in 10-7 loss to Brown

On Tuesday, Feb. 21, the Hofstra University women’s lacrosse team suffered a 10-7 defeat against the Brown University Brown Bears at James M. Shuart Stadium, bringing their overall record to 2-1 overall.

“In my eyes, this was a really disappointing loss because we didnt execute on some of the areas we needed to execute and finish on” head coach Shannon Smith said. “I thought our team played extremely hard and fought hard up and down the field.”

Kicking off the game, midfielder Courtney Carollo won the initial draw control to start the attack for the Pride. Few chances arose for either team in the opening minutes, but but Brown scored first. After defender Kendall Smith was called for a foul, attacker Claire Jeschke scored the first goal off a free-position shot in the bottom right corner, giving Brown a 1-0 lead.

It didn’t take long for the Brown Bears to double their lead as midfielder Annie Burton scored their second goal of the game, with defender Abigal Ball credited with the assist. Despite Hofstra’s attempt to claw back, Brown goalkeeper Kess Smith made a crucial save from Maddie Joyce’s shot on goal, preserving their two goal advantage.

To start the second quarter, Carollo once again won the draw control. Attacker Kerry Walser attempted a free position shot, but was saved by Brown Bears goalkeeper Claire Mahoney. Nikki Mennella took two consecutive shots, but one sailed high and the other was denied by Mahoney.

Following the shots from Nikki Mennella, defender Mia Mascone scored Brown's third goal to give them a 3-0 lead.. Mennella then tallied her eighth goal of the season to put Hofstra on the board.. Mascone responded with her second goal for Brown shortly afterwards, extending their lead to 4-1. Mennella then added another goal, this time to the top right corner, to make it 4-2 before the end of the second quarter.

Mascone opened the third quarter with a bang, rocketing a shot past Smith to give Brown a 5-2 lead. Hofstra responded quickly, as attacker Chloe Sedlar received the ball from Nikki Mennella right in front of the net and fired it past Mahoney to cut the deficit. Minutes later, Taylor Mennella set up Katie Kelly for a shot into the top left corner of the net, bringing the Pride within one goal of Brown..

Midfielder Megan Flannery tied up the at 5-5 when she fired a free position shot into the top right corner of the net. Nikki Mennella followed up by placing the ball into the right side of the net, scoring her third goal of the afternoon to give Hofstra their first lead of the match. Midfielder Julia Ford tied it up again for Brown when she fired the ball to the bottom of the net, Joyce followed up with Brown’s seventh of the afternoon to give the Brown Bears a 7-5 lead going into the final quarter.

In the final quarter of the match, Brown outscored Hofstra 3-1 to secure the win. Jeschke scored the eighth for her side as she came from behind the net and slotted it past Smith in the left side of the net. Ford scored her second of the afternoon, and Jeschke scored the final goal for Brown, giving them a four goal lead. Attacker Lauren Coletti scored the final goal of the afternoon as Hofstra fell to Brown, 10-7.

The Pride return to the field on Feb. 25 as they travel to Fairfield, Connecticut to face Fairfield University at 1 p.m.

Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics