Towson, MD - Towson's Nikki Marcinik scored the game-winner with 4:47 left in the second half to offset a solid game from Hofstra senior midfielder Corrine Gandolfi as the #10 Tigers defeated #16 Hofstra, 9-7, on Sunday afternoon at Johnny Unitas Field.

Gandolfi had two goals, one assists, three caused turnovers, two ground balls and one draw control for the Pride, but it wasn't enough as Hofstra fell to 10-5 overall and 4-2 in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play.  Towson improved to 12-3 and 6-1 in conference action.

The Pride also got another stellar game defensively from junior defender Katie Hertsch, who tallied five draw controls, five ground balls and two caused turnovers in the game.  The ground ball and draw control totals both tied career-highs for Hertsch, who led the game in both categories as well.

Hofstra would dig itself an early 3-0 deficit in the game as Hillary Fratzke scored twice and Jacie Kendall added a goal to put the Tigers up 3-0 with 13:24 to play before intermission. 

The Pride would almost immediately answer as Gandolfi scored her first of the game and 41st of the season just 30 seconds later to get Hofstra on the board. 

Gandolfi's tally would start a string of five straight goals for Hofstra, all from five different players as the Pride would lead 5-3 after a free-position goal from junior attack Stephanie Rice with 4:58 left in the opening stanza.  Freshman midfielder Casey Kellogg, senior midfielder K'Leigh Vanaman and freshman midfielder Jill Maier would add the other goals during the run to help put the Pride in the lead.

A goal from Kendall with 1:31 to play would close the gap to 5-4 and Hofstra would take that advantage into the break.

Hofstra dominated the draw controls in the first half as they won eight of the ten contested.

A back and forth beginning to the second half would see the two teams combine for just three goals over the first 20 minutes as Towson knotted the score at six with a goal from Jess Dunn at the 10:29 mark of the second half. 

Hofstra did have a two goal advantage early in the second half as senior midfielder Sandy Wasserbach scored an unassisted goal with 28:56 left to put the Pride ahead 6-4.

Towson would continue its run as Fratzke notched a free-position goal with 9:35 left in regulation to give Towson its first lead since the Tigers were up 3-2 with just over seven minutes left in the first half.

Gandolfi would answer less than 30 seconds later to tie the score at seven as she scored her second of the game.

The game would be scoreless for the next four-plus minutes until Marcinik put the Tigers up for good at the 4:47 mark.

Hofstra would have one final great chance to even the score, but a point-blank shot from Wasserbach with 52 ticks left on the clock was saved by Mary Teeters to preserve the Towson win.  Katie Cloud would add a goal with ten seconds left to account for the final margin of victory.

Wasserbach had a goal and an assist for the Pride, which got a career-high 12 saves from senior goalie Mary Cuddihy in the game.
Kendall led Towson with four points on two goals and two assists, while Fratzke added three goals, four ground balls and four caused turnovers.  Teeters made 14 saves for the Tigers.

Hofstra returns to action on Thursday when they travel to Drexel for their regular season finale at 4 p.m.