Hofstra junior Alexandra Alonge scored with just over four minutes remaining at the 65:58 mark to lift Hofstra (1-0) to a thrilling 3-2 victory over Stanford (0-1) in the season-opener Saturday for both teams at the Varsity Field Hockey Turf.
Sophomore Kara McEneaney assisted on the game-winning goal from Alonge with 4:02 left in the contest. Stanford had led 2-1 after back-to-back goals by Aska Sturdevan and Jessica Zutz erased an early 1-0 Hofstra advantage but freshman forward Pemba Ramdoo tied the score at 2-2 when she scored her second unassisted goal of the contest at 55:04.
Ramdoo (pictured right) had given Hofstra an early 1-0 lead when she scooped up the ball in front of the cage and put it into the back of the net at 5:57 after an earlier Hofstra shot had been deflected by Cardinal goalkeeper Ana Kralovec.
Sturdevan tied the score at 1-1 when she blasted a shot by Hofstra goalkeeper Jessica Cowperthwait on a Cardinal penalty corner at 22:54.
Zutz gave Stanford a short-lived lead when she snuck a shot by Cowperthwait on an assist from Julia Drewes at 51:25 for her first career goal before Ramdoo's second goal tied the contest just 3:39 later.
Stanford posted slim margins in both shots (11-9) and penalty corners (6-4). Zutz took a game-high five shots, while Ramdoo and McEneaney both attempted three for Hofstra. Cowperthwait (1-0) recorded the victory in goal for the Pride and picked up a pair of saves, while Kralovec (0-1) was the losing goalkeeper despite a game-high four saves.
Hofstra will play University of Pacific Sunday at 3 p.m. PST at the Varsity Field Hockey Turf.
