FH: Pride Fall At Towson

10/29/2011 1:51:00 AM

Towson, MD - Towson scored twice in the first half and once early in the second half and staved off Pride pressure in the final 30 minutes to post a 3-0 CAA victory over Hofstra at Johnny Unitas Stadium Friday night. Hofstra, which dropped its third consecutive game, falls to 11-8 overall and 4-3 in the CAA. Towson, which dropped a three-game skid, improves to 9-9 on the year and 3-4 in conference play.

The Tigers jumped out early scoring twice in the first six minutes. Junior Kate Nolan scored her fourth goal of the season, off a rebound, at the 4:41 mark for a 1-0 lead. Just 72 seconds later, junior Kasie Nurko gave Towson a 2-0 advantage, also off a rebound. It was her fifth goal of the year. The first half ended that way with Hofstra outshooting the Tigers, 5-4, in the period.

Towson extended its lead to 3-0 just 2:09 into the second half when junior Janine Kovach took a pass from freshman Stevie Winchester and scored for her fifth goal of the year. Hofstra replaced starting senior goalie Amanda Heyde with classmate Meredith Golden at that point. The Pride put tremendous pressure on the Tigers during the final 33 minutes, outshooting Towson, 9-0 and taking nine penalty corners. But Hofstra couldn't get a shot past redshirt freshman Christina Siwiec, who finished the game with five saves.

The Pride outshot Towson in the contest, 14-8, including 9-4 in the second half. Hofstra also took 13 penalty corners to the Tigers' six. Hofstra will end its CAA regular season on Sunday, October 30 when they travel to Drexel for a noon contest.

The Pride have qualified for the CAA Championship Tournament by way of James Madison's (8-9, 4-4) 1-0 win over Delaware (8-10, 3-4) and Northeastern's (13-5, 5-2) 2-1 win over Drexel (10-7, 3-4) Friday night. While Old Dominion (18-1, 8-0) has clinched first place and Northeastern has nailed down second place, a Hofstra victory over Drexel on Sunday gives the Pride the third place seed with a 5-3 mark.

However, there is a possibility of a five-way tie for third place for the four remaining conference tournament spots. For that scenario to happen, Drexel would have to defeat the Pride, Delaware defeat VCU and Towson defeat Northeastern Sunday leaving Hofstra, Drexel, Delaware, Towson and James Madison at 4-4. In that case Drexel, by way of a 3-1 mark against the four tied teams, would get third place and Towson, with a 1-3 mark, would be eliminated. Hofstra would then get the fourth seed, James Madison would be fifth and Delaware would be sixth based on head-to-head between the three remaining teams. Hofstra won in head-to-head contests against James Madison and Delaware.

The CAA Championship Tournament begins on Thursday, November 3 in Norfolk, Virginia with first round games. Semifinals will be played Saturday, November 5 with the finals slated for Sunday, November 6.

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