WSOC: Pride Defeats Fordham 4-1, Wins Hofstra Invitational Title

9/5/2010 9:57:00 PM

Hempstead, N.Y. - Junior midfielder Courtney Breen (Hicksville, N.Y.) scored two second half goals as the Hofstra Women's Soccer team defeated Fordham 4-1 on the second day of the Hofstra Invitational on Sunday afternoon at Hofstra Soccer Stadium.

With the win the Pride improves to 2-1 and captures the championship of the Hofstra Invitational based on goal differential (7-2). St. John's also won both games 1-0 to finish the weekend with a pair of wins. Fordham falls to 3-2 with the loss after dropping both games this weekend.

The win was the 200th in the history of the Hofstra women's soccer program, including its 12 wins as a club team in 1992 while transitioning to NCAA Division I status. The Pride's all-time record is now 200-117-29 (188-114-29 at the NCAA level), including no losing seasons since 1996.

Hofstra dominated for most of the game, outshooting Fordham 7-0 in the first half and 12-0 in the first 70 minutes, before the Rams got four shots and a goal in the final 20 minutes against the Hofstra bench.

Junior forward Laura Greene (Holbrook, N.Y.) got the Pride started with a goal at the 21:08 mark when she took a pass from sophomore back Brooke Bendernagel (Smithtown, N.Y.) and made a long run up the right sideline. She then faked a cross and cut back to the middle, before tucking a low shot into the lower-right corner of the net.

The Pride extended its lead to 2-0 with 4:46 left in the half when senior forward Grace Hawkins (Northport, N.Y.) scored her second goal in as many games off the Pride bench. Senior defender Dana Bergstrom (Billerica, Mass.) played a long ball up the middle, and Hawkins got there just before a Fordham defender to flick the ball forward and break in alone. She picked out her corner against charging Fordham goalie Rachel Suther and tucked the ball away to stretch the lead to 2-0.

Breen stretched the lead to 3-0 just 1:14 into the second half of a corner kick when Bergstrom picked her out at the top of the six-yard box and snapped a header into the net.

Hofstra had to dodge a minor bullet in the final minutes as Kaitlin Abrams scored off a free kick with 7:11 remaining to cut the lead to 3-1, and two minutes later Megan O'Conor got in behind the defense and nearly made it 3-2, but senior goalkeeper Krista Thorn (Smithtown, N.Y.) came off her line to make the save at the top of the six-yard box to keep the lead at 3-1.

Breen then ended any Ram comeback hopes when she scored her second goal of the day with 2:12 remaining. Freshman defender Ruby Staplehurst (London, England) took a free kick and Hawkins flicked it on into the middle of the box, where Breen was able to finish in the goalmouth for her first career two-goal game.

Hofstra finished with a 15-4 edge in shots and a 7-2 edge in corner kicks on the day. Thorn had two saves in the second half in relief of starter Emily Morphitis (London, England), who did not face any Fordham shots in the first half. Suther had four saves for the Rams, including one spectacular save in the first half when she tipped a shot from senior midfielder Tiffany Yovino (Holtsville, N.Y.) off the crossbar.

Breen was named the Most Valuable Player of the Hofstra Invitational, and was joined on the all-tournament team by Greene, Yovino and senior forward Salma Tarik (Bellmore, N.Y.). St. John's had Runa Stefansdottir, Nicole Pasciolla and Raelynne Lee, while Fordham (Kaitlyn Carballeria and Mary Solimine) and Rhode Island (Kaylen Shimoda, Adrienne Ruhe Lischke) each had two players on the team.

The Pride will next be in action when it travels to Big 10 country to face Purdue on Friday night at 5 p.m. and Indiana on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.

Print Friendly Version

Hofstra University Athletics