Hempstead, NY – Hofstra sophomore
Madison Sauve scored her third goal of the season early in the second half but the Black Bears scored twice in each half as Maine spoiled the Pride's home opener with a 4-1 decision at the Hofstra Field Hockey Stadium Friday afternoon. Maine improved to 3-0 on the season while Hofstra slipped to 1-2 on the young season.
Maine junior Madison Cummings tallied two goals and senior Danielle Aviani added a goal and two assists to pace the Black Bears.
Hofstra slipped behind 2-0 just 11:07 into the contest on Maine goals just 58 seconds apart. Cummings notched her first of the game and fourth of the season at the 10:09 mark on a long pass from Aviani and beat Pride senior starting goalie
Lauren Saltus (2 saves) for a 1-0 lead. Aviani notched her first goal of the season less than a minute later off a Hofstra turnover with Maine senior Sydney Valjacic sending the pass and sending Aviani in on a 1-on-1 with Saltus for a 2-0 lead. The Black Bears outshot the Pride, 10-3 in the first 35 minutes.
Hofstra cut the deficit in half to 2-1 just 4:10 into the second half when senior
Stella Schoen sent the ball to the right corner of the goal where Sauve was waiting to tip it past red-shirt junior goalie Emma Corbett, who replaced starter and classmate Emma Cochran (0 saves) at halftime.
Maine continued to hold the upper hand in the play and boosted its lead to 3-1 in the 55th minute as Cummings scored her second of the game and fifth of the year off a rebound scramble in the goalmouth with sophomore Libby Riedl poking the ball off a rebound to Cummings for the tally. Freshman Brianna Ricker closed out the scoring for Maine with just 1:41 to play as she took a pass from Aviani across the circle and beat Pride junior goalie
Carys Swan (5 saves), who replaced Saltus at halftime.
The Black Bears outshot the Pride, 22-6 in the contest and had seven penalty corners to Hofstra's three. The Maine goalies did not make a save in the game.
Hofstra will return to action on Sunday, September 4 when the Pride host the defending national champions and the current second-ranked team in the country, the Syracuse Orange. Game time at the Hofstra Field Hockey Stadium is 1 p.m. Syracuse will face #13 Liberty at the Hofstra Field Hockey Stadium on Saturday (Sept. 3) at noon.
