Philadelphia, PA -- Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year Christina Mastropaolo scored three goals as the top-seeded Dragons defeated fourth-seeded Hofstra, 5-1, in the CAA Semifinals at Buckley Field Saturday afternoon. Drexel, which is ranked 10th in the nation, improves to 18-2 while Hofstra's season ends at 12-8.

The Dragons opened the scoring 13:15 into the opening half when Susan Ciufo (Bangor, PA) took a short pass from Jen Cairone (Medford, NJ) and beat Hofstra keeper Amanda Heyde (Somers, NY) to the short side.  Drexel tacked on to the lead when Mastropaolo (Harleysville, PA) converted a pass in front of the net from Jen Bolger (Berlin, NJ) on a set play off a penalty corner for a 2-0 advantage at the 22:51 mark.

Mastropaolo scored her second of the game at 29:52 following a scramble in front after Heyde made an initial save on a penalty corner. Sofia Sanguinetti (Montevideo, Uruguay) corralled the rebound and passed to Mastropaolo for a 3-0 Drexel lead. That would close out the scoring in the half. Drexel controlled the action, posting 17 shots compared to five for the Pride. Heyde did post nine first half saves.

Drexel upped the lead to 4-0 at the 45:31 as a sprawling Mastropaolo got her stick on a pass from Carolina Gibernau (Montevideo, Uruguay) and sent it high over Heyde's left shoulder to complete the hat trick. Gibernau scored 10 minutes later for a 5-0 lead, ending Heyde's day as she was replaced in net by Meredith Golden (Louisville, KY). Heyde finished with 12 saves.

Codi Nyland (Washington, NJ) helped Hofstra avert being shut out by scoring her first goal of the season with 43 seconds remaining in the contest.

Drexel held a 28-11 advantage in shots and a 9-5 edge in penalty corners.

-30-