Sept. 18, 2005

Box Score

HEMPSTEAD, NY - The Fairleigh Dickinson University women's soccer team (4-4) fell to host Hofstra, 4-2, at Hofstra Soccer Stadium in Hempstead, NY, on Sunday evening. The Knights battled back from a 2-0 deficit with goals from sophomore forward Tonya Hipsman and junior forward Christine McCartney, knotting the score at 2-2, but the Pride surged ahead to take the game on Chrissy Arnone's goal with 14:48 remaining.

The Knights fought back from an early 2-0 Hofstra (4-2-1) lead to pull even at 2-2 with 37:30 left in the game on a header from Hipsman off a free kick from senior defender Jennifer Tarvin. "We created a few chances and got a goal off of a free kick after a great serve by Tarvin," said Head Coach Peter Gaglioti. "Tonya did a great job getting on the end of it and getting it in."

Arnone broke the tie in the 76th minute. Pride freshman back Jess Crankshaw started the game-winning play when she threaded the needle with a short pass to Arnone 35 yards from goal. Arnone then dribbled, cutting back across the top of the penalty area and cranked a left-footed blast that bent directly into the upper-left corner for her team-leading fourth goal of the season.

Freshman midfielder Edel Malone gave the Pride the insurance goal with 4:16 left in the game when an FDU defender slide-tackled the ball away to the top of the penalty area, where Malone gathered it in and deposited a shot into the upper-left corner to seal the win.

Malone also started the scoring early at the 6:30 mark of the first half when she took a short pass from sophomore forward Carol Leurini, dribbled and cranked an 18-yard shot just under the bar. Leurini then extended the lead to 2-0 at the 16:47 mark when she scored from in front of the goalmouth. Crankshaw started the play with a long cross from the right side of the field to the far post, where junior midfielder Nina Nanavrakis knocked it down and Leurini was able to tap the ball in from in front of the net.

Fairleigh Dickinson responded, though, as McCartney worked a give-and-go on the right side of the field with senior midfielder Kristen Habenicht. "Christine scored a great goal to get us on the board," said Gaglioti. "She cracked one from 25 yards out from a wide angle into the back post for our first goal."

McCartney gathered the ball in along the right edge of the penalty area and chipped a shot over the head of Hofstra goalkeeper Becky Wachsberger and inside the far post to cut the lead to 2-1 with 19:41 left in the first half.

The score stayed 2-1 through intermission, until Hipsman's goal pulled the Knights even 7:30 into the second stanza.

Hofstra held a 26-6 edge in shots on the game and a 7-0 edge in corner kicks. Junior goalkeeper Kyla Clark had seven saves for the Knights, while Wachsberger finished with four saves for the Pride.

"We played hard and competed as we usually do," said Gaglioti. "We made some adjustments in the second half and did well to maintain possession. Everyone fought hard and although in the end we got hurt a little off the turnovers, we stepped up and matched their efforts. It is difficult to match up against a quality team like Hofstra physically, and if you make mistakes agiast good teams you are going to get punished. Hopefully we can carry tonight's efforts into conference play while continuing to get sharper. We showed some character to go down 2-0 and fight back. We could have crumbled after getting down early, but they showed determination to come from behind and tie it up."

The Knights are back in action when they host La Salle on Sept. 23 at 3:30 pm at University Stadium in Teaneck, NJ. The game can be followed live through gametracker.