Philadelphia, PA - Junior
Taylor Mennella had five goals and the Hofstra women's lacrosse team rallied from a huge second half deficit before falling in a hard-fought 14-10 decision to Drexel in the Colonial Athletic Association semifinals on Friday evening at the Vidas Athletic Complex. The Pride trailed 10-5 late in the third quarter before tallying five consecutive goals to even the score at 10 in the final quarter.
The loss ends Hofstra's season with a record of 9-8. Drexel improved to 11-7 with the win and advances to the CAA Championship Game on Sunday against Towson. The Pride was the three seed in the championship, while the Dragons were the number two seed.
It was all Mennella for Hofstra in the first half as she continued her torrid scoring streak with three goals in the first 30 minutes. She opened the scoring just over a minute into the game and would make it 2-1 with 10:27 left in the first quarter with another tally. After Drexel scored four consecutive goals to open up a 5-2 lead, Mennella and sophomore
Kerry Walser tallied back-to-back goals to close the gap to 5-4 with 4:19 left before intermission. Drexel got a goal from Corinne Bednarik with 1:34 to play to account for the two-goal game at the break.
Drexel pushed the lead back to three goals with a goal in the opening minute of the third quarter before senior
Amanda Guerra scored her 10th of the season with 13:07 showing on the clock to bring the Pride back to within two at 7-5. The Dragons would take what appeared to be a commanding 10-5 advantage with three straight goals midway through the third quarter before Walser added her second of the game with just 19 seconds left in the stanza to kick-start the rally.
It was all Hofstra to open the fourth quarter as the Pride stormed back with four goals in the first eight minutes of the quarter to even the score at 10. Walser got the run started in the third quarter and she was followed by two goals from Mennella. Guerra would make it a one-goal game and then graduate student
Katie Whelan would put home her patented free-position shot to knot the score, completing the stunning rally.
Drexel would answer two minutes later to retake the lead and the Dragons would hold off any hopes of another Hofstra comeback as they scored the game's final four goals to account for the final score.
Junior
Kate Fiola tallied two assists in the game, while graduate student
Shannon Boyle closed her incredible career with another outstanding game totalling six draw controls and four ground balls. Senior
Jess Smith made nine saves in net for the Pride, while Guerra and Walser each finished with two goals.
Colleen Grady and Karson Harris each posted four points on three goals and one assist for the Dragons, which also got five draw controls, three ground balls, and two goals from Bednarik. Zoe Bennett made five saves for the Dragons.
NOTES
- Hofstra is 28-12 all-time against Drexel.
- The hat trick was Mennella's seventh this season and eighth of her career. She totaled 14 points (11 goals, three assists) in the Pride's last two games this season.
- Hofstra had an 18-11 ground ball advantage in the contest.
- Whelan's goal gave her 206 career points to tie her with Kathleen McPike (1998-2001) for sixth all-time in program history.
- Boyle's six draw controls pushed her career total to 130, moving into 10th place all-time in program history. She passed Jill Maier, who had 128 from 2010-13.
- Smith's nine saves pushed her career total to 529, passing Maisie Osteen (527 from 2005-08) for third place all-time.
