Hempstead, NY – Hofstra senior Carissa Witmer scored her sixth goal of the year to tie the game in the 11^th minute but James Madison junior Hannah Hall scored with 4:12 to play in the second half to break a 1-1 deadlock and give the visiting Dukes a 2-1 Colonial Athletic Association victory over the Pride at the Hofstra Field Hockey Stadium Friday afternoon.

The Hofstra loss, its fifth consecutive defeat, evens the Pride season record at 9-9 and 1-4 in the CAA.James Madison, which snapped a two-game losing skid, improved to 12-5 overall and 4-2 in the CAA. The Pride loss also eliminates them from CAA Championship contention for the four-team tournament that begins on November 4. The Dukes will have the number three seed in the CAA Championship.

James Madison scored first just 5:15 into the contest when junior McKenzie Ridgely sent a long pass into the circle to sophomore Ashley Gippe, who tapped it pass Hofstra senior goalie Lauren Saltus (6 saves) for a 1-0 lead.

Hofstra tied the contest at the 10:28 mark when Witmer fired a shot past JMU junior goalie Sara Kraeutler off a penalty corner for her career-high sixth of the year. Senior Emily Gallagher and graduate-student Marloes Schavemaker assisted on the Witmer goal.

Despite a 1-1 halftime score and the two teams splitting 14 total shots, Hofstra had the slight upper hand in the first 35 minutes, forcing Kraeutler to making six of her nine saves in the contest in the first half.

The Dukes put the pressure in the Pride in the second half, taking nine shots and three penalty corners and pressuring Saltus to make five of her six saves in the second period.
 
Hofstra took only four shots in the final 35 minutes but all four were on goal, with Kraeutler making three saves and sophomore Madison Sauve clanging one off the far post in the 37^th minute. Pride leading scorer Claudia Marin Samper also had a good opportunity to break the tie in the 58^th minute on a one-on-one with the goalie. But the JMU junior stuffed her shot to retain the tie.

That all changed in the 66^th minute in a sequence started by a penalty corner for the Dukes. Ridgely fired a shot that Saltus made a pad save on but the rebound came out in from to Hall who put it behind Saltus for a 2-1 lead. The Pride pulled their goalie for an extra offensive immediately after the goal but couldn't get a shot in the final 4:12 of the game.

Hofstra will celebrate their 10 graduating seniors and close out the regular season on Sunday, October 30 when the Pride host the Tribe of William and Mary at the Hofstra Field Hockey Stadium. Game time is noon. Hofstra will honor its 10 seniors and their parents in pregame ceremonies beginning at 11:15 a.m. Those Pride seniors have accumulated 41 victories over the past four seasons.