Hofstra Claims Third Straight CAA Women's Soccer Title in Dominant Fashion
Bill Potter
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (Nov. 9, 2019) – Hofstra claimed its third consecutive CAA women’s soccer title, as the top-seeded Pride defeated No. 6 James Madison, 5-1, at the Hofstra Soccer Stadium.
Hofstra (15-3-2), which is receiving votes in both top 25 polls, will enter the NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship on a 15-match unbeaten run, having gone 13-0-2 in that span. The Pride’s five goals marked a CAA championship game record for most goals scored in a match.
With its third consecutive CAA crown, Hofstra becomes the first CAA program to win three straight titles since William & Mary took six consecutive from 1996-2001. The CAA women’s soccer title is the sixth in program history for the Pride.
Hofstra jumped on the board just over three minutes into the match. After a cross in from the left was cleared by James Madison, Anja Suttner brought a short cross in from the right, where Lucy Porter’s from inside the 6-yard box found the back of the net.
With just over six minutes until the half, Hofstra doubled its lead, making it 2-0. Taking a corner from the right, Sabrina Bryan swung in the corner with her left foot, where it found the head of Megan Fisher near the back post.
Two minutes into the second half, the Pride pushed the lead to 3-0 as Sabrina Bryan added a goal to her previous assist. Cutting in from the right, Bryan unleashed a left-footed shot to the upper-right corner from the right edge of the 18-yard box to tally her eighth goal of the season.
The Pride would strike again in the 58
th minute. After Bryan sent a cross to the near post, Porter tracked the ball down and sent it back toward the middle, where Lucy Shepherd was unmarked. Collecting the pass, Shepherd turned and fired into the top of the net to extend Hofstra’s lead to 4-0.
James Madison (9-12-1) got on the board with 21 minutes remaining as Iris Rabot converted a penalty kick.
With two minutes remaining, Hofstra added its fifth, with Porter notching her second of the match. The brace came off a corner kick, with Fisher flicking a pass to Porter, who converted from in close to round out the scoring.
Hofstra outshot James Madison, 15-5, putting seven shots on goal. Porter’s brace gave her 16 goals on the season, tied for the eighth-most in the country. The junior earned Most Outstanding Player honors, joined by teammates Bryan, Jordan Littleboy and Bella Richards on the All-Tournament Team.
Hofstra will find out its NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship destination on Monday, Nov. 11, at 4:30 p.m. ET on the NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship Selection Show. Last season, Hofstra knocked off No. 4 Boston College in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
2019 CAA Women’s Soccer Championship All-Tournament Team
Sabrina Bryan, Hofstra
Jordan Littleboy, Hofstra
Lucy Porter, Hofstra (Most Outstanding Player)
Bella Richards, Hofstra
Ginger Deel, James Madison
Iris Rabot, James Madison
Ebony Wiseman, James Madison
Sara D’Appolonia, Delaware
Kamryn Stablein, Delaware
Hannah Doherty, Elon
Carson Jones, Elon