Hempstead, N.Y. - Senior forward Salma Tarik (Bellmore, NY) scored two goals 3:30 apart in the second half to break a 1-1 tie as the Hofstra Women's Soccer team defeated Rhode Island 3-1 in its home opener on Friday night on the first day of the Hofstra Invitational on Friday night at Hofstra Soccer Stadium. St. John's defeated Fordham 1-0 in the first game of the doubleheader.
With the win, the Pride levels its record at 1-1 on the young season, while Rhode Island falls to 0-3-1 with the loss. Hofstra held a 25-4 edge in shots on the day, including 21-3 after the Rams scored their goal in the first minute.
The game-winning goal was set up when Hofstra had the ball on the right sideline. Sophomore midfielder Courtney Breen (Hicksville, NY) played the ball to sophomore defender Danielle Murino (Bohemia, NY), who one-timed a cross into the middle of the penalty area. Rhode Island goalkeeper Rachel Suther came off her line to try to punch the ball clear, but Tarik out-jumped her and headed the ball into the vacated net with 18:33 to play.
The goal was the 20th of Tarik's career, including 17 in her three seasons at Hofstra. She also had three goals as a freshman at Cal State Northridge in 2007.
She quickly ran her career total to 21 goals just 3:27 later after Rhode Island was called for a foul near the right sideline. Senior defender Dana Bergstrom (Billerica, MA) came forward to take the free kick, and the ball bent over the top of a crowd at the top of the six-yard box. Tarik was waiting at the far post, and tapped the ball into the open net from the goalmouth to stretch the lead to 3-1 with 15:05 showing on the clock.
Rhode Island jumped out a 1-0 lead just 1:19 into the game as Adrienne Ruhe Lischke played a long through ball up the middle. Kaylen Shimoda held off a Hofstra defender just outside the top of the penalty area, and slipped in alone against Pride goalkeeper Krista Thorn (Smithtown, NY). Thorn came out to cut off the angle, but Shimoda calmly tucked the ball under her into the left side of the net to give the Rams a quick 1-0 lead.
Hofstra evened the score in the final minute of the first half, as freshman midfielder Tara Kerns (Chesapeake, VA) played a long ball up the middle of the field. Rhode Island's defense wasn't able to clear it, and senior forward Grace Hawkins (Northport, NY) squeezed between two Ram defenders and was able to slot the ball home from 15 yards out to tie the game at 1-1 with 38 seconds left. After giving up the initial goal in the second minute, Hofstra outshot the Rams 9-1 for the remainder of the first half and had 20 straight shots overlapping both halves before Rhode Island took its third shot late in the game.
Freshman Emily Morphitis (London, England) had one second half save for Hofstra to get the win in net. Starter Krista Thorn (Smithtown, NY) had one save in the opening 45 minutes, while Suther had 11 saves for the Rams.
The Pride will next be in action when it plays the second day of the Hofstra Invitational on Sunday, facing Fordham at 3 p.m. St. John's will also participate in the event and face Rhode Island at 1 p.m.
