Sophomore defender Marie Curtin (Kilmallock, Ireland - pictured) tallied two goals and an assist and senior midfielder Chrissy Arnone (Merrick, NY/Calhoun) added two goals as the Hofstra Women's Soccer team exploded for a 7-1 win over Fordham on Wednesday evening at Hofstra Soccer Stadium.

With the win, the Pride improves to 3-2-1 on the season with one more non-conference game left on the schedule (Sunday vs. Fairleigh Dickinson). Fordham, meanwhile, drops to 3-3 with the loss.

Curtin wasted little time getting the Pride going when she scored off a direct kick just 1:58 into the game. She took the kick from 25 yards away just from outside the left side of the penalty area and bent a shot inside the near post underneath the dive of Fordham goalkeeper Julie Wynns (Southwick, MA).

Hofstra then jumped ahead 2-0 at the 5:02 mark when freshman defender Jess Crankshaw (Lanoka Harbor, NJ) scored an unassisted goal off a corner kick. Curtin took the corner, and the Fordham defense won the ball in front of the net and cleared it up the middle of the field. Crankshaw, though, was waiting for the clearance and one-timed a half-volley that blasted just inside the far post for her second goal of the year.

Fordham cut the deficit in half, though, at the 11:51 mark when Liane Schoenstein (Greenport, NY) scored from inside the goalmouth at the far post. Sophomore midfielder Breean Daley (Warrington, PA) started the play when she sent a low cross to the far post after working a give-and-go with junior forward Haley Lentsch (Woodbury, MN) on the left side of the field.

The Rams kept the pressure on over the next 10 minutes, but the Pride was able to take back the momentum with two goals before halftime. Arnone stretched the lead to 3-1 when she took a cross from sophomore forward Carol Leurini (Whitman, MA), beat one defender, and found herself alone in front of the goal from 12 yards out. She then hit a shot just inside the right post that Wynns deflected with her fingertips but couldn't quite push wide of the net with 10:10 left in the half.

Leurini then stretched the lead to 4-1 with 2:57 left in the first half when she calmly tucked in an open shot from 10 yards out off a lateral pass from senior midfielder Amber Albrecht (Southbury, CT).

Arnone and Curtin each added their second goals of the game in the second half. Arnone's goal was the 12th of her career, moving her alone into 10th place on the Pride's all-time goal scoring list. Curtin's goal came on another direct kick from 20 yards out, when she tucked a shot into the upper-left corner. In between, freshman midfielder Edel Malone (Ennis, Ireland) scored her first career goal when she headed in a corner kick from Curtin. Malone also added an assist on Arnone's second goal.

Senior goalkeeper Becky Wachsberger (East Meadow, NY) had two saves for the Pride, which outshot Fordham 15-11, but had seven of its first 12 shots result in goals. The seven goals were the most since it defeated Eastern Michigan 7-1 in the opening game of the 2002 season, tying it for the second most all-time behind a 9-0 win over Drexel in 1994. Junior goalkeeper Lydia Holmberg (Bayport, NY) added two saves in relief. Wynns finished with five saves for Fordham.

The Pride will next be in action when it plays its final non-conference game on Sunday at 7 p.m. against Fairleigh Dickinson.