Hempstead, NY - The Hofstra Women's Soccer team will open the 2010 season when it travels to seventh-ranked Boston College on Friday for a 5 p.m. contest.
The Pride, which is coming off a 10-6-3 season a year ago, had a successful exhibition season, tallying a 0-0 tie with LIU (in which it held a 15-2 advantage in shots) and a 3-0 win over Marist on Saturday in the Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor's Cup. Boston College, an NCAA quarterfinalist a year ago, opened its regular season on Friday with a 1-1 tie against No. 2 Stanford, after defeating Connecticut 4-0 in exhibition play.
Boston College will be the second-highest ranked team that the Pride has ever faced. Hofstra's highest ranked opponent was No. 6 Penn State, which it played in the second round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament, falling 2-1 in overtime. The Pride has also faced Hartford when it was ranked eighth (1999), Penn State when it was ranked ninth (2008), Connecticut when it was ranked ninth (2005), tenth (2003) and 11th (2008) and Virginia when it was ranked 10th (2009).
Hofstra has never beaten a ranked team, but it has come close several times, including the Penn State game in the NCAA Tournament when it took a 1-0 lead into the final minute. The Pride also tied No. 10 Connecticut 0-0 in 2003 and tied No. 20 Washington in 2005 and lost two other games to ranked teams in overtime - a 2-1 defeat to No. 25 West Virginia in 2001 and a 3-2 defeat to No. 25 Indiana last season.
This season, the Pride will boast an experienced front six, as it returns all three forwards (two seniors and a junior) and all three midfielders (one senior and two juniors). Senior forward Salma Tarik (Bellmore, NY) was the Pride's top scorer last year with 10 goals and four assists, while junior forward Laura Greene (Holbrook, NY) led Hofstra in assists with eight. Senior midfielder Tiffany Yovino (Holtsville, NY) and junior midfielder Courtney Breen (Hicksville, NY) joined Tarik as first-team All-CAA selections last year (and preseason All-CAA selections this fall).
Senior defender Dana Bergstrom (Billerica, MA), who played every minute of every game last year, will be asked to lead a young defensive unit this season, along with sophomore Amy Turner (Stocksbridge, England), a CAA All-Rookie performer last season. Bergstrom will be playing near her Billerica, Massachusetts home for perhaps the final time in her career (barring any CAA or NCAA postseason contests later this fall).
After facing Boston College, the Pride will continue with its difficult non-conference schedule next weekend when it hosts the Hofstra Invitational, taking on Rhode Island on Friday at 7 p.m. and Fordham on Sunday at 1 p.m. It will then travel to Big 10 country to face Purdue on Friday, Sept. 10 and Indiana on Sunday, Sept. 12.
