Hofstra saw its 16-match unbeaten streak end at the hands of the No. 1 seeded Stanford University Cardinal on Friday, Nov. 22 at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium in Stanford, California. The 4-0 loss in the second round of the 2019 NCAA women’s soccer tournament ends the Pride’s season at an overall record of 16-4-2 while the Cardinal improve to 20-1-0.
This marks the third straight year the Pride have qualified for the national tournament and second year they’ve advanced to the second round.
Stanford put themselves on the board very early in the match with a goal in the second minute off a header by junior forward Madison Haley.
No other balls found the back of the net through the remainder of the first 45 minutes as Stanford dominated in possession, playing most of the match in the Pride’s half of the pitch.
Hofstra saw its first two shots in the 33rd minute by juniors Sabrina Bryan and Lucy Porter but were both blocked.
Sophomore midfielder Megan Fisher came up big for the Pride in the 42nd minute as Stanford’s Sophia Smith rolled past keeper Skylar Kuzmich to shoot on an unguarded net. However, Fisher managed a sliding save at the last second to send the ball to the right of the post.
The first half ended with the Cardinal leading in shots 14-2 as Hofstra posted a strong defense allowing only one goal and redirecting many of the shots wide or towards the crossbar and posts.
Coming out of halftime, a hot streak for the Cardinal began in the 54th minute as they doubled their lead off of a free kick taken right outside the Pride’s box by Catarina Macario.
Three minutes later, Macario did it again, finding the net to allow the Cardinal to comfortably sit at 3-0. Macario’s two goals mark her 28th and 29th of the season.
However, the Cardinal weren’t done yet as 46 seconds later Smith avenged her first half miss to increase Stanford’s lead to 4-0 in the 57th minute.
Hofstra’s first big chance for a goal came in the 61st minute as Fisher attempted to head a corner kick from Miri Taylor into the net but the ball was caught by the keeper.
Stanford went on to ride their four goal lead through the remaining 29 minutes and defeat the Pride, 4-0 at home at the end of the full 90 minutes.
Three yellow cards were assessed throughout the match -- two by Stanford and one by Hofstra -- as the Cardinal’s Haley and Sam Tran received one in the 51st and 76th minutes respectively, while the Pride’s Anja Suttner was given one in the 54th. The free kick given after Suttner’s card led to the Cardinal’s second goal of the night.
With the win, the Cardinal will now advance to the third round of the tournament and face No. 4 seed Penn State University on Sunday, Nov. 24 at home.
The Pride end their season after a 16-match unbeaten streak, the second longest unbeaten streak in the nation this season. Their 16 wins this season also matches the third-highest win total in program history, matching the 1994 and 2018 campaigns.
“16 wins is a tremendous year for us. We’ll take a lot from this year. We’ll take a lot from this experience today and we’ll bounce back and hopefully get to the NCAA’s next year,” Hofstra women’s soccer head coach Simon Riddiough said after the match.
From the moment they stepped off the pitch, the Pride were eager to play again.
“I’m really excited for next season already. I think we’re going to come back even better than before,” Bryan said. “We know what we need to do to get to the third round [of the NCAA tournament] now and I think we’re really excited to try and achieve that.”
Bryan ended her season with 32 points, consisting of 11 goals and 10 assists. She ranked second for the team in all three categories, as Porter led the way with 16 goals and 40 points to her name breaking a Hofstra program record for points in a single season.
While the NCAA tournament will remain on their minds through the off-season and into next year, the Pride know the first step is conquering the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).
“I think for our junior class we’re definitely looking to four-peat [as CAA champions]. Coming in as seniors we know what a three-peat is and we’re not satisfied going out senior year with a loss,” Bryan said. “We know what it takes. We need to win the championship our senior year to make it even more memorable.”
This article was originally published on www.thehofstrachronicle.com.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
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