HEMPSTEAD, New York * Sophomore midfielder Corrine Gandolfi had two goals and an assist and senior goalie Maisie Osteen notched eight saves as the Hofstra Women's Lacrosse team improved to 2-0 this season with an 8-7 victory over New Hampshire at James M. Shuart Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The 2-0 start is Hofstra's first since the 2005 squad began the season with four straight victories. New Hampshire, meanwhile, drops to 0-1 as the game marked the season opener for the Wildcats.

Hofstra took a 4-3 lead into the intermission as the Pride recovered from a 3-2 deficit and scored two goals in the final 4:24 of the half to lead by one at the break. Three different goal scorers would find the back of the net for the Wildcats in the opening stanza with Sarah Von Bargen's goal at the 6:12 mark giving UNH the 3-2 advantage.

Gandolfi would knot the score with her second goal of the game at the 4:24 mark before freshman attack Stephanie Rice put Hofstra ahead with just 10 seconds left on an unassisted tally. Junior defender Alysse Roszkowski, who finished with four caused turnovers, three ground balls and two draw controls, had three first half caused turnovers to go along with a draw control and a ground ball.

After junior midfielder Lauren Whitcomb put Hofstra back in the lead with a free-position goal at the 25:20 mark of the second half, Von Bargen evened the score just nine seconds later at five with an unassisted goal.

At that point, the Pride would begin a 3-0 scoring run that would give Hofstra the lead for good. Sophomore attack Courtney O'Connor began the run with 24:58 left off an assist from sophomore attack Ashley Jones. Whitcomb would add another just under a minute later before senior attack Kelly McGrath tallied the eventual game-winner at the 23:05 mark to give Hofstra a three-goal advantage. Moira Talbot scored her second and third goals of the contest in the final 13 minutes to account for the final score.

Hofstra, which held a commanding 12-5 advantage in draw controls in the contest, got two goals from Whitcomb and a goal and an assist from McGrath. Osteen added a game-high five ground balls, while sophomore midfielder K'Leigh Vanaman had a game-high four draw controls in the game.

Talbot (3) and Von Bargen (2) combined for five of New Hampshire's seven goals in the game, while Kelli LaPerch led the Wildcats with four ground balls and Michaela Hardy added three caused turnovers.

Hofstra returns to action on Tuesday, February 26 when they host top-ranked and defending national champion Northwestern at 4:00 p.m.

Box Score

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HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – Moira Talbot (Marblehead, Mass.) recorded her 100th career point with the first of her three goals, but a late rally by the University of New Hampshire women's lacrosse team fell short in an 8-7 loss to Hofstra University Saturday afternoon at James M. Shuart Stadium.

It marked the season opener for UNH while Hofstra improved to 2-0. The game featured five ties – at 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 – and three lead changes before the home team built a three-goal advantage of 8-5 in the second half.

Talbot reached her personal milestone when she gave the Wildcats a 1-0 lead at 23:27 of the first half. The Pride netted the next two goals at 21:28 and 20:36 to go ahead 2-1., UNH's Ashley Durepo (Concord, N.H.) ended a long scoreless drought at 7:29 and Sarah Von Bargen (East Setauket, N.Y.) netted a free-position goal at 6:12 to put the ‘Cats back in front, 3-2.

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2008-02-23