UConn’s women’s lacrosse team traveled to Hempstead, N.Y. on Saturday to kick off its season against the Hofstra Pride. Hofstra entered the game 1-0 after squeaking out a 10-9 victory on the road against St. Joseph’s earlier in the week.
Hofstra raced off to a 4-0 lead, in large part to three goals from senior Alyssa Parrella. After the opening 10 minutes, UConn began to get more comfortable as seniors Stephanie Palmucci and Sydney Watson brought the score to 4-2. Hofstra took back the momentum quickly, going on a 4-1 run, bringing their lead up to five. In the closing few minutes of the first half, UConn got goals from Lia LaPrise, Sam McKenna and Watson, coming within one goal of the Pride. With 21 seconds to spare in the first half, Hofstra’s Parella added another goal to her tally and the score was 9-7 going into the second half.
The first half saw the Pride finish with a 13 to 11 advantage in shots on goal. During the opening 30 minutes, each team had four saves and seven turnovers. UConn had the slight 11 to 10 edge in ground balls while Hofstra picked up one more draw control.
UConn struck first in the second half, following an unassisted LaPrise goal, briefly bringing the Huskies within one of the Pride. Hofstra completely took control of the game from this point on. The Pride scored five unanswered goals from five different players, leading to a strong 14-8 Hofstra advantage. After the scoring run from Hofstra, both teams didn’t find the back of the net for almost nine minutes. With 13:35 left to play, LaPrise scored her second goal of the half, UConn’s only two goals of the half at that point in time. UConn’s Kate Shaffer scored the last goal of the game with 3:33 left in the half, bringing the final score to 17-11 Hofstra.
UConn finished the game with a 25-21 advantage in ground balls, while Hofstra ended with a 20-10 edge in draw controls. The Pride finished with five more turnovers than the Huskies but also produced five more shots on goal. Hofstra’s Parrella was the leading scorer of the matchup putting up an incredible seven goals and one assist. The Pride also saw Alexa Mattera post four points, with three goals and one assist. Watson and LaPrise led UConn in scoring with a hat-trick apiece. The Huskies had seven different players on the scorecard in the loss to Hofstra.
The team will look to rebound this Friday when they go on the road to take on UMass Lowell. This will be the season opener for UMass Lowell, as both teams will be hoping to collect their first victory of the season.
