Hofstra Head Field Hockey Coach Kathy De Angelis today announced the Pride's 2008 schedule. The slate features eight contests at the year-old Hofstra Field Hockey Stadium. The team will have seven true road games and two neutral site contests as well.

"We consider the 2008 schedule to be highly competitive, giving us the ability to develop throughout the season," said Coach De Angelis. "We are very excited to have eight games at the Hofstra Field Hockey Stadium this fall and hope that this will continue to grow our fan base. Our continued goal is to qualify for the Colonial Athletic Association Championship, which we have done for four consecutive seasons."

The season opens August 31 as the Pride host Northeast Conference runner-up Rider. The team then travels to Albany, New York, for a neutral site contest against Siena on September 5. Hofstra's first true away contest will be at America East runner-up Albany, which posted a 15-5 mark in 2007, on September 7. Following the Albany game, the team returns to Hompstead for a three-game homestand, hosting Missouri State (9/13), Fairfield (9/14) and Sacred Heart (9/19).

After a road game at Quinnipiac (9/24), the Pride open Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play by hosting Drexel on September 28. The Dragons ended Hofstra's 2007 season, 4-3, in the CAA Quarterfinals last November. The CAA slate will see Hofstra travel to Virginia Commonwealth (10/3), defending champion James Madison (10/5) and CAA semifinalist Northeastern (10/26). The Pride will host CAA runner-up Old Dominion, which was an at-large selection to the 2007 NCAA Championship, on October 10, as well as Towson (10/31) and Delaware (11/2). The Pride will also "host" William & Mary at Columbia University on October 12. The game is being played off campus due the the Presidential Debate that Hofstra is hosting on October 15. 

Hofstra will also have three non-conference road games in the midst of CAA play as the team travels to Ivy League runner-up Columbia (10/15), Yale (10/19) and Vermont (10/24). The Catamounts were tough to beat at home in 2007, posting a 7-1 mark at Moulton Winder Field.

The CAA Championship will be held November 6-9 in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Hofstra finished the 2007 season with a record of 7-11. The Pride return four of their top five scorers from last season including All-CAA selections Brit Blankmeyer (pictured), Charlia Warner and Amy-Lee Levey.

The complete Hofstra Field Hockey schedule can be found here.