William and Mary (2-6, 2-0 CAA) defeated Hofstra (5-6, 0-1 CAA) in a shootout last Friday night at Busch Field.
“Getting this win was so important for us,” freshman Pyper Friedman said. “Obviously, it’s a CAA game, and we really wanted to come out with a win. But coming off six losses, it’s really good for our team’s momentum.” The victory marked the Tribe’s first of the season.
Hofstra jumped out in front of the Tribe just 3:19 into the game after a goal from Mercedes Currie. Three minutes later, junior Lauren Curran tied up the contest with a goal off the keeper’s pads. Curran leads the Tribe in scoring this season with three goals.
Strong defensive efforts from both teams kept the game locked at 1-1 heading into the fourth quarter. William and Mary took their first lead of the game in the 47th minute when freshman Kelly Richbourg scored off a corner opportunity. Senior Cara Menges assisted Richbourg on the play. The Tribe had 11 corners during the contest, compared to just seven for Hofstra.
Less than four minutes later, Hofstra tied up the game after Eline Olfeman scored off an assist from Simryn Desai. Olfeman shot from the right wing and threaded the ball between sophomore Maddie George’s shoulder pad and the upper-right corner of the goalpost.
At the end of regulation, the score remained 2-2. Neither team was able to score during two 10-minute overtime periods and the game went into a shootout.
Hofstra scored on their first shootout attempt, putting pressure on George.
“It was good to get it out of the way,” George said. “I kept on trying different things during the shootout, so if something didn’t work, I knew to throw that away and try something else.”
After four rounds, each team scored two goals. George came up with a huge stop against Hofstra’s Lieke Gorsse in the fifth round. Friedman then stepped up to take her shot with a chance to win the game. She made it past Hofstra’s Merlijin van der Vegt into the left side of the net to secure the victory for William and Mary.
Despite starting off the season with six losses, the Tribe still has high expectations for the rest of the season.
“Our goal is to make top four in the conference,” Head Coach Tess Ellis said. “It doesn’t matter how we get there.”
The College defeated Northeastern on Sunday afternoon to improve to 2-0, winning their second consecutive game of the season. The victory also kept the Tribe undefeated in conference play. They host Richmond this Friday, Oct. 8, at 6 p.m. at Busch Field.