The field hockey team emerged victorious in their trip to Hofstra on Friday, Sept. 2, defeating the Pride with a final score of 4-1. With the victory, the Black Bears move to 3-0 on the season while Hofstra falls to 1-2.
Maine started by notching the first goal of the contest moments after the 10th minute of play. Third-year forward Madison Cummings scored the goal at 10:09 with an assist from fourth-year forward Danielle Aviani. This was Cummings’ fourth goal on the season. Less than a minute later, Aviani scored a second time, assisted by fourth-year midfielder Sydney Veljacic, beating Pride fourth-year goaltender Lauren Saltus for a second time in the game. This was Aviani’s first goal on the season.
Maine finished the first period with 10 shots on goal, compared to Hofstra’s three shots on goal. Redshirt third-year goalkeeper Emma Cochran started in goal for the Black Bears.
The second stanza of play started out better for Hofstra. Just after the four-minute mark in the period, Hofstra’s second-year forward Madison Suave scored her third goal of the season, with an assist from fourth-year forward Stella Schoen — defeating redshirt third-year goalkeeper Emily Corbett, who replaced Cochran at the half. Similar to last season, Black Bears Head Coach Josette Babineau utilized both of her goalkeepers as Corbett and Cochran shared halves in net for Maine.
Maine would come back 15 minutes later when second-year midfielder Libby Riedl passed the ball to Cummings to defeat third-year goaltender Cary Swan for Cummings’ fifth goal on the season. Cummings’ goal brought the score to 3-1, giving Maine a sizeable advantage late in the contest.
Maine scored their final goal with less than two minutes of action remaining when Aviani crossed the ball to first-year forward Brianna Ricker to once again defeat Swan. This would be Ricker’s third goal on the season.
Maine ended the second period with 12 shots on goal compared to Hofstra’s three shots. With this win, Cochran is now 2-0 on the year, while Saltus takes the loss and moves to 1-1 in goal for The Pride.
Maine will return to action on Monday, Sept. 5 at 1 p.m. at home against Dartmouth College. Hofstra goes on to play Syracuse at home on Saturday, Sept. 3 at 12 p.m.
