Hofstra’s honorees (left to right): Lucy Porter, Sabrina Bryan, Miri Taylor and Anja Suttner. (Photo courtesy of Hofstra SID). (Photo courtesy of Hofstra SID)
It was more of the same for the Hofstra University and Monmouth University women’s teams.
They reached the NCAA Division I tournament again, but failed to go deep again.
Coached by Simon Riddiough, the Pride finished a 16-4-2 record while posting an undefeated 7-0-2 Colonial Athletic Association mark. Hofstra earned a first round NCAA Division I Tournament win over Loyola Chicago, 1-0, on Sabrina Bryan’s extratime goal to reach the NCAA second round for the second consecutive year before losing to eventual champion Stanford University, 4-0, Nov. 23.
Two players — midfielder Lucy Porter and Bryan, a forward — were named to the NCAA Division I women’s All-American team. Porter was chosen to the second team, while Bryan was selected to the third team. Both players are juniors.
The CAA midfielder of the year, Porter led high-powered offense that ranked first in the conference in every offensive category. She finished with a program-record 40 points via a conference-high 16 goals and eight assists. Porter also tied for a team and CAA-high five game-winning goals.
Bryan, the CAA attacking player of the year, tallied 32 points, which was second in the CAA from 11 goals and a CAA-high 10 assists. She added three game-winning goals, including the extratime game-winner that propelled Hofstra to the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Two other Pride players also made an impact — sophomore forward Miri Taylor and freshman defender Anja Suttner, who were named to the All-Region team.
Taylor was named to the All-Region first team as a forward and was the only sophomore represented on the squad. She registered nine goals and nine assists for 27 points. which ranked third in the conference behind Porter and Bryan. Taylor also tied for a team-high five game-winning goals.
Suttner gathered second team honors after collecting two major awards from the CAA including co-defensive player of the year and rookie of the year accolades. Suttner, who rarely came off the pitch, led a defense that posted a 1.36 goals-against average while contributing to five shutouts. She recorded three goals and three assists for nine points while tallying one game-winning goal in the CAA semifinal.
The Monmouth women made their seventh NCAA Tournament appearance and fourth consecutive postseason trip and registered their first shutout in the NCAA Tournament in the opening round. However, No. 16 Brown University also kept the Hawks off the scoreboard and won a shootout to move on.
Senior goalkeeper Amanda Knaub earned her 15th shutout of the season and 45th career clean sheet. Knaub extended her scoreless streak to 932:55, the longest streak in program history.
Knaub wasn’t the only Hawk player to standout. Three of her teammates — Madie Gibson, Jess Johnson and Lexie Palladino – were named to the United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I women’s All-Atlantic Region teams.
For the second consecutive season Gibson secured a spot on the first team, marking the third straight season she has earned all-region honors. Johnson claimed a spot on the second team for the second year in a row, while Palladino landed on the third team. Gibson joined Christie Pearce Rampone as the only Monmouth players to be two-time first team selections. She also was the first in program history to be a three-time all-region choice. Gibson closed her career with four All-MAAC first team selections, joining Alexis McTamney as the only Hawks on that list. Gibson ranks fifth in program history in career points (102) with 35 goals and 32 assists.
Johnson’s second career all-region nod came after she co-captained the top defensive unit in the country. Monmouth led the NCAA in goals-against average (0.202) and shutout percentage in 2019 (0.789). Monmouth surrendered a program-record four goals. Johnson started all 19 games in her senior season. she contributed two goals and three assists this season.
The MAAC offensive player of the Year, Palladino, scored nine of her 20 career goals this season. Palladino and Gibson were tied for the team lead with 22 points. She finished her career with 55 points (20 goals, 15 assists). During her career, Monmouth went 17-0-0 when Palladino scored a goal.
Tuesday: Story No. 7