Hempstead, NY – The Hofstra field hockey team battled the elements and visiting Stonehill, and the Pride emerged victorious over the Skyhawks with a 4-1 decision on Sunday afternoon from Hofstra Field Hockey Stadium after a pair of quick goals inside the opening five minutes of the contest.
 
Hofstra evens its record to 3-3 on the year following Sunday's win, and Stonehill drops to 0-5 overall.
 
The Pride came out of the opening whistle firing, earning a penalty corner inside the first minute of the game. Jamie Mc Millan fired the first shot of the contest low and past the outstretched Shannon Conte for the tally 52 seconds into the game. Hofstra doubled its lead inside the first five minutes when Samantha Spera drew multiple Stonehill defenders as she entered the shooting arc and hugged the endline, waiting until just the right moment to slip her pass to an unmarked Gabriela Espinoza for the goal at 4:38.
 
After a scoreless second quarter, Hofstra added to its lead three minutes into the start of the third quarter. Cami Valor received a pass on the far sideline and entered the shooting arc, charging with a head full of steam on goal, before making the pass to Spera in front of goal, and the graduate student forward just got the ball over Conte's left blocker and into the net before the two collided.
 
Stonehill made a game of things in the fourth quarter when Lacy Moran pounced on a Hofstra turnover deep in Hofstra's defensive zone, beating Meghan Reilly on a one-on-one to make it 3-1 with 3:53 left to play. Stonehill pulled Conte at the 3:12 mark to give themselves an extra field player, but Stonehill didn't capitalize on the player advantage as Reilly turned away a shot on goal late. Logan Oswalt finished off a pass by Maya Williams into the net with one second remaining in the contest to put the Hofstra lead back to three before the final whistle sounded.
 
Pieke Roos got the start in net and she made three saves in 45 minutes of action to pick up the win, while Reilly played the entire fourth quarter and registered one save. Spera led the Pride with three points on a goal and an assist, and Mc Millan paced all players with six total shots. Valor and Williams, as well as Kesia Richardson and Teresa Karoff, all recorded assists in the win.
 
Conte made nine stops in 56:48 of action for the Skyhawks. In addition to her goal, Moran led Stonehill with four total shots and two shots on goal.
 
Hofstra opens CAA play on Friday, September 15, at home against preseason CAA favorite and #19 Delaware at 3 p.m.
 
NOTES
-Hofstra is now 2-0 all-time against Stonehill.
-Hofstra finished with a 20-6 edge in shots against Stonehill, including a 14-0 mark in the first quarter.
-The Pride generated 11 penalty corners, including eight in the first quarter, and allowed just three to Stonehill.
-Both of Oswalt's collegiate goals have come against Stonehill.