Hempstead, NY – After a relatively slow first half, the Hofstra field hockey team found the back of the net four times in the third quarter to put the game well out of reach and lift Hofstra to an 8-0 win in the 2023 season-opener against visiting Merrimack on a picture-perfect Saturday afternoon from Hofstra Field Hockey Stadium.
 
After a scoreless first quarter that featured three Hofstra shots to Merrimack's one, the Pride scored the first goal of the new season from their fourth penalty corner of the contest. Teresa Karoff perfectly inserted the ball to the waiting Kesia Richardson, who teed up Jamie Mc Millan for a wormburner of a goal past the diving Brooke Bolduc for the opening tally barely one minute into the second quarter.
 
Hofstra erupted from the halftime break and pumped four goals past Bolduc in the third quarter to all but ensure a Hofstra victory. Samantha Spera opened the quarter with a close-range finish after a brilliant pass by Jaime Lewis four minutes into the frame, starting the four-goal spurt that would put the Pride ahead by five after the third quarter. Seconds later, Kelly Levengood tallied her first collegiate goal after Adrianna Losiak found her with a long inbound pass, quicky making it 3-0 Hofstra. Pilar Penaloza redirected a Mc Millan shot two minutes later on a penalty corner to make it 4-0, and Silvia Vetter finished off a cross from Levengood to make it 5-0 Pride at the 6:58 mark of the quarter.
 
Vetter kept the scoring going in the fourth quarter with her second goal of the afternoon, taking a pass from Maya Williams at midfield and deeking her way around the Merrimack defense before finishing past Bolduc for the sixth Hofstra goal of the contest. The hosts made it seven on a fierce backhander by Penaloza at 6:50, and Lewis capped off the day with a goal of her own on a rebounded Merrimack save with 33 seconds remaining before the final buzzer sounded.
 
Vetter and Penaloza both finished with two goals on the day, while Levengood and Lewis each had a goal and an assist, and Kesia Richardson tallied a pair of assists. Pieke Roos played the first three quarters and recorded two saves, and Hella Vorpagel totaled two stops in the final quarter of play.
 
Anne-Sophia Hogenboom led Merrimack with three total shots and two shots on target. Bolduc took the loss for the Warriors while making two saves in 45 minutes of action, and Sara DeSousa played between the posts for the final 15 minutes.
 
Hofstra returns to Hofstra Field Hockey Stadium on Tuesday for a 3 p.m. game against Fairfield.
 
NOTES
-Hofstra is now 2-0 against Merrimack This was the first game between Hofstra and Merrimack since 2019.
-Hofstra has now won three consecutive season-openers.
-The eight goals are the most Hofstra has scored in a single game since putting eight on the board against Colgate in 2011.
-The Pride outshot Merrimack 19-6, and they earned 12 penalty corners to just two for Merrimack.
-Prior to the start of the game, Hofstra Head Field Hockey Coach Courtney Veinotte awarded the Jonel Boileau Memorial Character Award to Liv Truong.