Hofstra, JMU Set for CAA Women's Soccer Championship Rematch
Bill Potter
RICHMOND, Va. (Nov. 3, 2019) – For the second straight year, Hofstra and James Madison will meet for the CAA Women’s Soccer Championship. Top-seeded Hofstra defeated No. 5 Elon, 3-1, while No. 6 James Madison rallied late to stun No. 2 Delaware, 3-2, in overtime.
The two teams met in last season’s title game, with Hofstra earning a 2-0 victory, its second consecutive CAA women’s soccer title.
The 2019 CAA Women’s Soccer Championship will be played at the Hofstra Soccer Complex on Saturday, Nov. 9, at 1 p.m. ET. The match will be carried live on FloSports.
(1) Hofstra 3, (5) Elon 1
Sabrina Bryan’s brace helped lift Hofstra to its third straight CAA Women’s Soccer Championship match, defeating No. 5 Elon, 3-1, at Hofstra Soccer Stadium.
Bryan, named the CAA Attacking Player of the Year on Thursday, netted her eighth and ninth goals of the season for Hofstra (14-3-2), which extended its unbeaten streak to 14 matches, tying its program record.
The two-time reigning CAA champion, Hofstra jumped out to an early lead in the third minute of the match behind Bryan. The junior put a left-footed shot across goal from 18 yards out and finding the back of the net.
The Pride doubled its lead in the 39
th minute behind the CAA’s Rookie of the Year and co-Defensive Player of the Year, Anja Suttner. Off a corner kick, Elon attempted to clear the ball before Suttner collected the ball near the penalty spot and fired a rocket to the top of the net to make the score, 2-0.
Bryan’s second of the match came in the 76
th minute as Amanda Ebbesson dribbled down the right side before sending a cross into the box, where Bryan flicked on from the 6-yard box to boost the Pride’s lead to 3-0.
Elon would wrap the scoring in the 79
th minute as Carson Jones netted her team-best 10
th goal of the season.
For the match, Hofstra outshot Elon, 26-4, and 5-2 in shots on goal.
Elon, which was making the program’s first appearance in the CAA Women’s Soccer Championship, concluded its season with a 12-6-2 record.
(6) James Madison 3, (2) Delaware 2, (OT)
James Madison used a goal in the 89
th minute to force overtime before Sophie Brause’s golden goal gave the Dukes a 3-2 win at Stuart & Suzanne Grant Stadium.
The CAA championship match appearance is the 10
th for the Dukes; James Madison last won the CAA championship in 2015.
This trip required late heroics for JMU, which trailed 2-1 following a Riley Dixon goal in the 27
th minute.
Chasing the one-goal deficit, the Dukes would tie the match with just 1:38 remaining in regulation. Awarded a free kick near midfield, Ebony Wiseman controlled the ensuing kick in the box before wheeling and firing to knot the match and push it into overtime.
With the first overtime winding to a close, James Madison earned a corner kick and capitalized, as Iris Rabot’s kick found the head of Brause at the near post, with the header flicking into the net and sending the Dukes into the title game.
Rabot had helped James Madison tie the match early in the first half from the same spot, with her corner kick evading the Delaware defense and finding the foot of Hannah Coulling, who had an open net to tie the match at 1-1 in the 14
th minute.
Twice in the match, Delaware took one-goal leads, beginning just seven minutes into the game as Sara D’Appolonia collected an attempted clearance by JMU and quickly fired on goal from 35 yards out to beat a scrambling keeper.
After JMU knotted the match on Coulling’s goal, the Blue Hens would retake the lead in the 27
th minute on Riley Dixon’s first goal of the season. Dribbling across the midfield, Dani Kabat found Dixon streaking down the left side; alone in a 1-v-1 situation with the keeper, Dixon slotted her shot to the right corner, restoring Delaware’s lead.
The Blue Hens would hold that lead for over an hour of game time, until the Dukes’ dramatic rally.
Delaware, which had earned the program’s best-ever seed for the women’s soccer championship, saw its season end at 12-7.