Hofstra soccer teams have magical runs in 2010

 Courtesy Hofstra Athletic Communications

Midfielder Tiffany Yovino was a major reason for Hofstra's magical 2010 season.

The Hofstra women’s and men’s soccer teams saw their seasons draw to a close this past weekend but both teams will be able to look back on 2010 with their heads held high knowing great strides were made with bright futures lying ahead.

The Hofstra women’s soccer team broke a school-record with 18 wins in a row and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before losing a hard-fought battle to 18th-ranked Boston College 3-1. The Hofstra men’s soccer team rallied from being in 11th place in the conference standings at midseason to go unbeaten in seven straight games before falling to William & Mary 4-0 in the Colonial Athletic Association title game.

“I was proud of this team from the beginning all the way through to the end,” said Hofstra women’s soccer head coach Simon Riddiough, whose team finished the year ranked 23rd nationally. “The team came together fantastically."

Hofstra women's soccer defensive midfielder adds some offensive punch to aide national ranking

 Courtesy Hofstra Athletic Communications
The 23rd ranked Hofstra women’s soccer has received many contributions during its current 13-game winning streak on both offense and defense. One Pride player aiding on both ends of the field during Hofstra’s magical run has been versatile red-shirt junior defensive midfielder Brittany Butts, who after two years of rock solid defensive play has added some offensive punch to her game

Butts scored her first career goal in a 3-1 win at Big Ten power Indiana on Sept. 12 and added her second tally in a 4-1 triumph over Towson on Oct. 8. “Everyone makes fun of me because I’m always the one to never score, never shoot so hopefully I’m turning that around,” said Butts. “It feels nice to finally get some goals in the back of the net.”

Hofstra women's soccer team reflects on record winning streak

The Hofstra women’s soccer team’s magical 2010 season hit new heights Friday night when the Pride broke a program record with its 11th straight victory over Towson. The streak, which hit 12 games after Sunday’s 5-0 win over George Mason, has special meaning to both head coach Simon Riddiough and his players, who are hoping the winning ways continues all the way to an NCAA Tournament berth.

“It’s a milestone,” said Coach Riddiough of the winning streak, which broke a Hofstra women’s soccer record previously set in 2005. “You always want to build tradition and the more records we break with winning streaks, the more likelihood we start to get recognized as a standout program.”

Hofstra women's soccer Big Ten Sweep could play major dividends come November

Fresh off a Big Ten road sweep of Purdue and Indiana this past weekend, Hofstra women’s soccer head coach Simon Riddiough is hopeful that these two signature wins will play major dividends toward the Pride’s goals of reaching the NCAA Tournament.

Hofstra earned a pair of 3-1 wins over the Big Ten powers Friday and Saturday night, which will give the Pride a major boost in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) rankings, an important factor used to determine who received at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament in November. Riddiough expects both Indiana and Purdue to be in the top 50 RPI this season and feels wins over both of these teams will go a long way toward boosting Hofstra’s NCAA Tournament at-large resume should the Pride not capture the Colonial Athletic Association’s (CAA) automatic bid.

Riddiough described this past weekend as the biggest regular season moment for the Hofstra women’s soccer program, which started in 1992. “From a national perspective, from a tradition perspective, from a reputation perspective I think it is the best weekend we have ever had,” said Riddiough. “The girls put everything into it emotionally and physically."

While jubilant on the plane ride back to New York over what the Pride had accomplished, many of the players were also exhausted both physically and mentally, according to Riddiough. He gave them Monday off and work will now begin on preparation for Hofstra’s next game at Columbia this Friday night. Riddiough does not expect there to be a letdown

“Fortunately this is a local rivalry,” said Riddiough. “Hopefully that is enough to get us motivated.”

Hofstra women's soccer to have challenging 2010 schedule

The Hofstra women's soccer team's 2010 schedule has been released and the Pride will be greatly challenged its non-conference slate.

Hofstra will kick off the 2010 campaign on August 27 at Boston College, which finished last season ranked seventh in the nation. The early non-conference schedule is also highlighted by road contests at Big Ten powers Purdue and Indiana and a home game on Sept. 5 against Fordham, who fell in the Atlantic 10 championship last season.

Long Island Lady Riders feature heavy Hofstra women's soccer contingent

The Hofstra women’s soccer team is getting a major lift in its preparation for the 2010 season thanks to four Pride players currently competing with the Long Island Rough Riders of the USL W-League.

The Hofstra players earning some valuable experience playing for the team that commonly uses the nickname Lady Riders include forwards Salma Tarik and Laura Greene as well as midfielders Tiffany Yovino and Danielle Murino. The Lady Riders, which competes in a league recognized as North America’s main women’s developmental organization, also feature numerous former Hofstra players including goalie Rebecca Wachsberger, defender Sue Weber as well as forwards Brooke DeRosa and Janine Cappello-Bielia.

NCAA College cup berth on line for Hofstra women's soccer this weekend

Parsons Field in Brookline, Mass. was a house of horrors for the Hofstra women’s soccer team during this past Saturday’s 4-0 Halloween matinee defeat to Northeastern, but if the Pride want to reach the NCAA College Cup then two wins on this same turf will be needed this weekend.

Northeastern’s Halloween shutout of Hofstra (10-5-3, 7-2-2) clinched the number one seed for the Huskies and the right to host the Colonial Athletic Association playoffs this weekend. If the Pride had won or tied then the Hofstra University Soccer Stadium would have been the site of this weekend’s CAA playoffs, but instead head coach Simon Riddiough’s team will have to settle for being the second-seed and traveling four hours back to the Boston area. “We had everything in our control and we just let it get away from ourselves,” said Coach Riddiough. “It was just one of those days.”

Despite coming off a four-goal loss in its regular season finale, Coach Riddiough feels positive about his team heading into this weekend since Hofstra out-shot Northeastern 22-8 and was the victim of some unlucky breaks against a stiff first half wind. Hofstra returns to Northeastern’s Parsons Field this Friday afternoon to battle UNC-Wilmington in the CAA semi-finals at 3 p.m. with a victory catapulting the Pride into the CAA Championship Sunday with a chance to earn an automatic bid into the NCAA College Cup, an accomplishment the program achieved in 2005 and 2007.

Hofstra women’s soccer 0-0 tie with JMU delays clinching top CAA seed

The Hofstra women’s soccer team came into its Sunday afternoon game against James Madison with a few scenarios that could clinch the regular season Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) title but the most simple was just defeat the Dukes. However despite out-shooting JMU 20-7 the Pride had to settle for a 0-0 tie that keeps second place Northeastern alive for the top CAA top-seed and the right to host the conference tournament in two weeks.

The Pride (10-4-2, 7-1-2 in the CAA) closes the regular season at Northeastern on Halloween and will need a win or tie over the Huskies to assure that today’s Senior Day game will not be the last at Hofstra University Soccer Stadium in 2009.

“I thought we played well and I thought we played well enough to win against a very, very good James Madison team, who got to the Sweet 16 last year,” said Hofstra women’s soccer head coach Simon Riddiough moments after the game.

Today marked the second straight Sunday that Hofstra played to a 0-0 tie and in last week’s scoreless deadlock at Georgia State the Pride out-shot the Panthers 41-14.

If it were not for the play of goalie Krysten Farriella Hofstra may have been looking at a loss rather than a tie. The junior keeper literally saved the day for the Pride in the second overtime by stonewalling a point-blank header from Ashley Flateland off a free kick from Teresa Rynier. The Pride had its best chance to win the game in the second overtime when junior forward Salma Tarik put a header just wide of the net off a cross from sophomore Laura Greene.