Hempstead, NY – An eight-save effort from Hella Vorpagel and a Samantha Spera goal weren't enough as the Hofstra field hockey team suffered a 3-1 home defeat to Lehigh on a sunny Sunday afternoon from Hofstra Field Hockey Stadium.

Hofstra's record moves to 2-2, and Lehigh improves to 3-1 following today's result.

Spera's goal in the second quarter got the Pride on the board first against their opponents. Jaime Lewis redirected a hard pass from Gabriela Espinoza on frame that Lehigh goalie Jenny Canoni was just able to bat away. Spera reacted to the loose ball first, and she swept it into the back of the net at the 12:35 mark of the quarter. The Mountain Hawks evened the score two minutes on a penalty corner as Lotte Smorenburg tapped in a wide shot from KK Suave.

After a fairly even three quarters of play, Lehigh upped their attacking intensity and tallied a pair of goals to put the game away. Juliana Gatelin charged down the turf and weaved her way through Hofstra's defenders until she got a shot off at the top of the shooting arc past Vorpagel to a waiting Lela Boermeester to tap in the go-ahead goal three minutes into the start of the quarter. The visitors scored the game's final tally with under five minutes to play on a hard backhander from Maddie Kandra that just got until Vorpagel's blocker.

Guusje Hogendoorn led Lehigh with five total shots and three shots on goal to go with an assist while Kandra totaled four shots – all on goal – and Canoni made three saves.

Hofstra faces its first road contest of the season on Thursday against UAlbany at 2 p.m.

NOTES
-Hofstra is now 3-6-1 all-time against Lehigh. This was the first game between Hofstra and Lehigh since 1995.
-Lehigh outshot Hofstra, 15-6. Spera led the Pride with three shots.
-Today's goal was the sixth of Spera's career.