Hofstra University Athletics

HOFSTRA TRAVELS TO NORTHEASTERN WITH REGULAR SEASON TITLE ON LINE

10/29/2009 12:00:00 PM

Hempstead, NY - The Hofstra Women's Soccer team will travel to Northeastern on Saturday for a winner-take-all battle for the Colonial Athletic Association regular season title and the right to host the CAA Tournament.

Hofstra enters the game with a 10-4-3 overall record and a 7-1-2 mark in the CAA, putting it two points ahead of Northeastern (11-3-3, 6-1-3 CAA). A Huskies win would vault Northeastern over Hofstra and into the top spot, bringing the CAA Tournament on Nov. 6-8 to Boston. A win or a tie would enable the Pride to host for the first time since 2003.

A regular season title would also mark the fifth time in the last seven years that Hofstra has won a CAA title of some kind. It won postseason championships in both 2005 and 2007, while winning the regular season title outright in 2003 and sharing the regular season title with VCU in 2004.

Northeastern has been a thorn in the Pride's side since the Huskies joined the CAA in 2005. Last year, Hofstra needed a win in its regular season finale at home to earn an opening round bye in the CAA Tournament, but the Huskies tied the score in the closing minutes of regulation and then won in overtime. That game dropped Hofstra all the way down to the #5 seed and enabled Northeastern to qualify as the #6 seed. The two teams then met again in the CAA championship game after both pulled upsets in the semifinals, and Northeastern captured a 1-0 win in double-overtime.

In 2006, Hofstra needed a win at home to qualify for the CAA Tournament and Northeastern scored on a late penalty kick to earn a 1-1 tie and knock the Pride out of the postseason. Strangely, the home teams have had very little success in the brief series between the teams in the CAA, as Hofstra has won 3-0 decisions in both previous trips to Northeastern (2005 and 2007).

Junior forward Salma Tarik (Bellmore, NY) leads Hofstra with 10 goals and four assists this season, with seven of her goals coming in conference play. She became the ninth player in school history to record a 10-goal season when she scored in the second half against VCU on Friday. Sophomore forward Laura Greene (Holbrook, NY) is tops on the team with eight assists, tying her for the fifth highest total in school history.

After a difficult start to the 2009 season, the Hofstra defense has come together in conference play, allowing just six goals in 10 CAA contests, three fewer than any other team in the league. Senior Jess Crankshaw (Lanoka Harbor, NJ) is the only returning starter on the back four, as senior Diana Caldwell (Balbriggan, Ireland) and junior Dana Bergstrom (Billerica, MA) both moved back to defense from forward this season. Freshman Amy Turner (Stocksbridge, England) has also started every game at center back for Hofstra in her rookie season.

Live stats and a radio broadcast of the game can be found at Northeastern's website: www.gonu.com.

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