Hempstead, NY - Hofstra senior Alyssa Parrella became the all-time leading goal scorer in Colonial Athletic Association history with her third tally of the game and she would finish with eight points on seven goals and one assist as the Hofstra women's lacrosse team rolled past Connecticut, 17-11, on Saturday afternoon at James M. Shuart Stadium. 

Parrella entered the game needing two goals to tie and three goals to break the record of 221 by Stacey Morlang of Loyola (1999-2002). With her seven goals, she now has 226 in her incredible career. She currently ranks first among all active players at the NCAA Division I level. 

Hofstra is now 2-0 on the season, marking its first 2-0 start since the 2018 campaign. Connecticut fell to 0-1 with the loss in its season opener. 

It was all Hofstra to start the contest as the Pride jumped out to a 4-0 lead, including three goals from Parrella, to earn that advantage with 21:30 left before halftime. The record-breaking goal came at the 21:30 mark as Parrella created her own shot in front of the net and fired a rocket past the goalie for the CAA milestone goal. After the Huskies closed the gap to 5-3, Hofstra pushed the advantage to five goals, 8-3, with 6:25 left before intermission. The Pride got goals from junior Camryn Faith, Parrella, and senior Arianna Esposito during the spurt. Connecticut scored four straight goals to cut the deficit to one late in the half but Parrella tallied her sixth of the game to give Hofstra a two-goal cushion with 21 seconds left in the opening stanza. 

The Huskies opened the second half scoring to once again close to within one, but the Pride scored five straight goals over a span of 5:13 to take a commanding 14-8 lead with 22:11 left in the second half. Senior Alexa Mattera kick-started the run and she was aided during it with goals from senior Katie Whelan, junior Grace Langella, freshman Kerry Walser, and Esposito. Hofstra would not be seriously challenged the rest of the way as Mattera added two more goals to finish with a hat trick and Parrella tallied her seventh of the game later in the half. 

Mattera had four points on three goals and one assist, while also tallying eight draw controls and a pair of ground balls. Senior Darcie Smith led Hofstra with 10 draw controls and five ground balls in the contest, while Langella had four points on two goals and two assists. 

Junior Jess Smith finished with nine saves for Hofstra, including five in the second half. 

Lia LaPrise and Sydney Watson each had three goals for Connecticut, while Stephanie Palmucci had a goal and two assists. 

Hofstra returns to action a week from today when it travels to Army West Point on Saturday, February 27 for a 1 p.m. game against the Black Knights. 

NOTES
- Hofstra leads the all-time series with Connecticut, 2-0. Prior to today's contest, the last meeting was in 2009, a 12-8 Pride victory. 
- Parrella also went over the 300-point plateau in the game, becoming only the second in CAA history to do so and the first in program history to reach that milestone. Suzanne Wosczyna of Old Dominion (2001-04) holds the all-time CAA record for points with 325. 
- Darcie Smith's 10 draw controls in the game gave her 221 for her career, moving her into third place all-time in CAA history. She passed Natalie Sulmonte of Towson (215 from 2016-19). She already holds the program record for career draw controls. 
- Mattera had eight draw controls to give her 194 in her career. She moved into sixth place all-time in CAA history, passing Maddie McDaniel of James Madison (187 from 2017-20). She ranks third in program history. 
- The hat trick was the 42nd of Parrella's career and the 17th of Mattera's career. It was also the 15th time in Parrella's career she has tallied six or more goals in a game.