Williamsburg - Hofstra's Becky Thorn scored five goals, and Kimberly Hillier recorded six points on a goal and five assists to lead the Pride past William and Mary, 11-4, in Colonial Athletic Association women's lacrosse action Friday night at Albert-Daly Field.

Maisie Osteen also played a big role in the victory, tallying10 saves in goal for Hofstra (5-4, 2-0 CAA), which won its third-straight in the series and remained unbeaten in conference play this season.

W&M (2-8, 0-1), which dropped its league opener and fourth consecutive game overall, was led by Jamie Fitzgerald's (Jenkintown, PA.) two goals. Jaime Sellers (Kennebunk, Maine) and Katie Rees (Catonsville, Md.) also scored for the Tribe, and goalkeeper Sara Beckstead (Annapolis, Md.) made 11 saves to post her fourth-straight game with double-digit stops.

Hofstra broke open a close game midway through the first half with a three-goal scoring run, and the Pride then used another 3-0 spurt to close the period and take a comfortable 8-2 advantage into the break. Thorn opened the scoring 1:27 in on an assist from Casey McGrath, before Hillier collected her first assist on Lauren Whitcomb's goal at the 26:06 mark to give the Pride a 2-0 edge. McGrath finished with four points on two goals and two helpers.

Fitzgerald converted an eight-meter attempt less than a minute later to cut the deficit in half, but the Pride would use an 8-3 advantage in draw controls, solid defense and four key first-half saves by Osteen to begin to pull away. Beckstead gave it her best in the first period to keep it close, recording nine of her stops in the first 30 minutes, but Hillier assisted on goals by Ashley Jones and Thorn, before McGrath's first unassisted with 9:43 remaining put the Pride ahead, 5-1.

Sellers scored at the 6:13 mark to pull the Tribe within 5-2, but Hofstra controlled the final five minutes and added three more goals to push the advantage to six. McGrath scored unassisted again, then helped out on Thorn's third of the period. K'Leigh Vanaman netted her only goal with just 49 seconds left in the first to give the Pride its 8-2 lead at intermission. Hofstra limited the Tribe to just seven shots in the opening period, behind two caused turnovers each from Alysse Ruszkowski and McGrath.

Hofstra came out of the gate strong in the second and put it away with two early goals. Hillier found Thorn for her fourth just 38 seconds into the second, and the first-team all-conference attacker buried a free-position shot with 27:20 remaining for her only goal to give the Pride a 10-2 cushion.

Osteen registered six saves in the second half, including three on free-position shots to keep the Tribe at bay. W&M finished 2-for-10 on eight-meter attempts in the contest, including 1-for-6 in the second half. The Tribe prevented a second-half shutout with two goals in the final minute, as both Fitzgerald and Rees found the net.

Fitzgerald led the Tribe with four ground balls and caused a pair of turnovers, and Lizzy Bayly (Bowie, Md.) added two ground balls and two caused turnovers. Kristen Wong (Richmond, Va.) caused three turnovers and collected three ground balls.

W&M continues CAA play on Sunday, hosting Drexel at 1:00 p.m., while the Pride visits Old Dominion on Sunday as well.

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Williamsburg, VA -- Senior attacker Kimberly Hillier tallied one goal and five assists, while junior goalie Maisie Osteen made 10 saves in net as the Hofstra Women's Lacrosse team won its third straight contest with an 11-4 rout of William & Mary at Albert-Daly Field on Friday evening.

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2007-04-07