Hempstead, NY – An early goal from Samantha Spera, coupled with a lockdown performance by the Pride defense and Merlijn van der Vegt, allowed the Hofstra field hockey team to earn a 1-0 home win over LIU Friday afternoon.

The Pride moves to 3-4 overall on the year, and the loss puts LIU at 2-5.

Spera's second goal of the season came just 81 seconds into the beginning of the game. Attacking down the right side of the field, Fede Schroder fed a pass to Adrianna Losiak, and the freshman hugged the endline while moving into the LIU shooting arc. She drew the focus of the Shark defense before passing to an open Spera directly in front of the goal, and the senior forward slid the ball into the back of the net.

Despite the final score, the Pride had a number of chances to add to their lead but could not get the ball past LIU goalie Maggie Streichert, who made five saves for the Sharks. LIU also had its share of chances to level the score, but van der Vegt was up to the task with three stops and a number of plays disrupted with their positioning and aggression off the line.

The Pride will now head north to take on #10 Syracuse (5-1) from J.S. Coyne Stadium in Syracuse, New York. Hofstra's next home game is on Friday, September 23, against Sacred Heart (0-5) at 3 p.m.

NOTES:
-Hofstra is now 3-0 against LIU.
-This was the second shutout of the year for van der Vegt, and the eighth of their career.
-With three saves, van der Vegt now has 252 saves for their career. They are now 32 saves away from passing Kaitlyn De Turo (283, 2009-13) for the 10th-most saves in a career at Hofstra.
-Hofstra outshot LIU, 9-8. Cami Larsson led Hofstra with three shots, all on goal.