Hempstead, NY – The Hofstra Pride Field Hockey team (1-1) will open its 2016 home schedule this weekend with two big contests while hosting a third neutral site tilt between two top 15 foes at the Hofstra Field Hockey Stadium.

The Pride will host the Black Bears of the University of Maine (2-0) on Friday, September 2 at 3 p.m. before taking on the defending national champions and second-ranked, Orange of Syracuse (2-0) on Sunday, September 4 at 1 p.m. Syracuse will also face #13 Liberty University on Saturday, September 3 at noon.

Pride Productions will provide live audio for both Hofstra contests. Links can be found on this page and also on the field hockey schedule page at GoHofstra.com. In addition, live statistics link will also be available in the same locations.

Hofstra opened its season last weekend with two road contests, falling at ninth-ranked Albany, 4-0 in the season opener on August 26 before rebounding for a 7-0 victory at Colgate last Sunday. In the opener, the Great Danes scored three first half goals and the Albany defense, headed by goalie Maxi Primus' six saves, held the Pride offense at bay. Pride senior Lauren Saltus made four saves in the second half in relief of junior starter Carys Swan.

In the win over the Raiders of Colgate, senior Stella Schoen tallied two goals and added an assist, sophomore Madison Sauve tallied two goals and senior Claudia Marin Samper posted a goal and two assists to pace the Pride. Seniors Emily Gallagher and Carissa Witmer scored the other two goals for Hofstra. Freshman Lara Bittel contributed two assists in the victory. Senior Lauren Saltus played the first 52 minutes of the game in goal for the Pride to get the win.

Hofstra and Maine will be meeting for the 25th time on Friday with the Black Bears holding a 16-8 series lead. Like Hofstra, Maine entered the season in the "also receiving votes" category in the 2016 Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I Preseason Poll. The Black Bears opened the season last weekend with two home victories, topping Providence, 7-1 on August 26 and Sacred Heart, 6-1 last Sunday. Sophomore Libby Riedl tallied three goals and three assists in the two games to earn America East Player of the Week honors while freshman Brianna Ricker, fresh off returning from training camp with the Canadian Junior National Team, tallied two goals and one assist against Providence to earn the America East Rookie of the Week award.

The Black Bears were 19-4 last season and return 11 letterwinners from the squad that dropped a 2-0 decision to Albany in the America East title game. In addition to Riedl and Ricker, Maine has received one goal and seven assists from junior Madison Cummings and two goals and four assists from sophomore Casey Crowley in the first two games. Red-shirt juniors Emily Corbett (0.00 GAA) and Emma Cochran (2.00 GAA) have split the goalie duties so far with each making one save.

The Orange of Syracuse, a perennial powerhouse in college field hockey having made eight consecutive NCAA Championship appearances capped by last season's NCAA Championship run, enter the weekend with a 2-0 mark following victories over Temple, 8-0, and #6 Maryland, 4-1, at St. Joseph's in Philadelphia last weekend. Sophomore Jen Bleakney scored twice against Temple and once against Maryland to earn Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Player of the Week honors. Senior goalie Regan Spencer shutout Temple and allowed only a penalty stroke goal in the win over the Terrapins to earn the ACC Defensive Player of the Week award.

Syracuse was 21-1 in 2015 including a 4-2 win over North Carolina in the NCAA title game at the University of Michigan. The victory not only gave the Orange the national championship, it also avenged a 2-1 loss to the Tar Heels in the ACC Tournament just 14 days earlier.

In addition to Bleakney, the Orange is led in scoring by junior Lies Lagerweij and graduate-student Elaine Carey with two goals and one assist while sophomore Roos Weers has one goal and three assists. Spencer has a 0.64 goals against average with six saves and a .857 save percentage in two games this season.

Sunday's meeting between Hofstra and Syracuse will be the 17th encounter between the two programs. The Orange lead the series, 13-3. Hofstra and the Orange last met on September 28, 2014 in Syracuse with the hosts winning 6-2.

The Flames of Liberty, who will face Syracuse on Saturday at noon, are 0-2 on the season after losses to 19th-ranked James Madison, 3-2 and fourth-ranked Duke, 4-0 last weekend. Freshman Kendra Jones and junior Alynn Richardson have each scored a goal for the Flames while freshman Allison Schaefer has a 3.50 goals against average with 19 saves and a .731 save percentage in the Liberty goal.