Hofstra Earns Overtime Win Over Loyola Chicago in NCAA First Round
Bill Potter
RICHMOND, Va. (Nov. 14, 2019) – For the second straight year, Hofstra earned a victory in the first round of the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship, this time outlasting visiting Loyola Chicago, 1-0, in overtime at the Hofstra Soccer Stadium in Hempstead, N.Y.
Hofstra (16-3-2) extended its unbeaten streak to 16 matches while ending Loyola Chicago's 12-match unbeaten run. The victory, which was the fourth in Hofstra's NCAA histroy, helped the Pride remain unbeaten at home this season, going 9-0-2.
With the win, the Pride advance to face No. 1 seed Stanford (19-1) on Nov. 22 at 10 p.m. ET.
In 2018, Hofstra opened the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship with a 4-1 victory at No. 4 Boston College. The Pride are the first CAA program to win NCAA matches in consecutive years since James Madison in 2007-08.
After the teams traded chances over the match's first 90 minutes, it was Hofstra who found the game-winning goal just over three minutes into overtime on the foot of
Sabrina Bryan.
After an attempted Loyola clearance, the ball found the foot of
Lucy Porter, who turned to her right and passed up the right side to
Miri Taylor, who played a quick pass to
Bella Richards into space.
Richards tracked the ball near the top of the 18-yard box and sent a touch pass to Bryan, who collected the ball at the top of the box and beat her defender to the left. After clearing her defending, Bryan sent a left-footed shot across the net, where it hit the post and caromed into the net, setting off a celebration for the Pride.
After compiling eight points during the CAA Women's Soccer Championship, Bryan added two more, giving her 10 over her last three matches to propel her past the 30-point mark for the second consecutive year.
Bryan had five of Hofstra's six shots on goal. The Pride defense allowed just four shots on frame, with
Skylar Kuzmich collecting all four shots. Overall, Hofstra outshot Loyola Chicago, 15-11, while the Ramblers took 10 corners to the Pride's seven.
Hofstra's 16-match unbeaten streak is the program's best since an 18-game streak in the 2010 season.