by Tyler Roaix
With the calendar crossing over into spring, it also means that Central’s lacrosse team gets into the heart of its schedule. But its latest meeting against Hofstra would bring the same results as much of the season so far. The Blue Devils fell to the Pride 15-3 and now sit at 1-7 on the season.
It was all Hofstra from the get-go, as the Pride dominated in seemingly every major statistical category. Central had fewer draw controls (14-6), ground balls (18-13), and more turnovers (18-13) showing how they failed to maintain control of the ball all game long.
Another problem for Central was their inability to generate momentum. After each Central goal, Hofstra was able to answer back quickly, usually within minutes. In fact, the longest it took the Pride to answer a Blue Devil goal was one minute and six seconds after Central’s second goal.
Head coach Princess Livingston thought the reason for the discrepancy in play was because of her team’s performance, not Hofstra’s.
“I think Hofstra is a very good program. I just don’t think there was anything that they did to prevent us from getting into a flow,” Livingston said. “I think we just need to move the ball more and be more confident.”
For the Blue Devils, junior Carson Adelberger scored twice and sophomore Morgan Sinton added one to tally the three goals. Sinton now has 13 goals on the season, just three behind Megan Szawlowski’s team-leading 16. Junior Jackie Branthover notched 12 saves in just over 56 minutes in goal.
For Hofstra, star midfielders Alyssa Parrella, Katie Whelan and Alexa Mattera continued their strong campaigns. Parrella had two goals and two assists against Central. She leads her team in both categories, with 29 goals and 11 assists. Mattera and Whelan tied for a game-high in goals, each hitting the back of the net four times. They now have 25 and 16 goals, respectively, on the season so far.
As previously mentioned, the Blue Devils are now 1-7. That is the second-worst overall record in the NEC, only better than Sacred Heart’s 0-8. Luckily for Central, the games that really matter are in conference play, which has yet to begin.
The Blue Devils will be back on the field Wednesday, March 28 at home to finish non-conference play against UMass Lowell. They’ll then kick-off NEC-play April 6 when they host Bryant. For Livingston, the recipe is simple if the team is to succeed getting into conference play.
“We just have to keep trying to get better each day,” Livingston said.