Northeastern, Hofstra Advance To CAA Women's Soccer Final
Northeastern, Hofstra Advance To CAA Women's Soccer Final
No. 3 Northeastern and No. 8 Hofstra were victorious in Sunday’s semifinals to advance to next Saturday’s championship game.
No. 3 Northeastern and No. 8 Hofstra were victorious in Sunday’s semifinals to advance to next Saturday’s championship game of the 2022 CAA Women’s Soccer Championship presented by Primis.
Northeastern and Hofstra’s 2-0 wins match up the teams in Massachusetts for their fourth meeting in the conference title game in the last nine seasons. The Huskies were victorious in 2014 and the Pride hoisted the trophy in 2017 and 2021 against NU.
Saturday’s final will be the first absent of the top two seeds in the Championship since 2012, as the Pride eliminated the No. 1 seed in the quarterfinals and the Huskies knocked off the No. 2 seed in the semifinals.
No. 8 Hofstra 2, No. 5 Towson 0
Olivia Pearse and Thorhildur Thorhallsdottir scored in a shutout victory to send No. 8 seed Hofstra to the CAA Final for the fifth time in the last six seasons.
Pearse scored on a penalty kick in the 11th minute and the 1-0 advantage held up until the half with the Pride holding the Tigers to one shot in the opening 45 minutes. Thorhallsdottir doubled the lead by redirecting a free kick from Anja Suttner in the 55th.
Skylar Kuzmich made two saves for Hofstra as the Pride limited Towson to just six for the contest. Riley Melendez recorded two stops for Towson.
Hofstra, winner of four of the last five CAA titles, becomes the lowest-seeded team to advance to the conference final. A tournament of eight or more teams was previously contested from 1995-99. The Pride, a year removed from graduating two CAA major award winners, received its two goals from a sophomore (Pearse) and freshman (Thorhallsdottir).
No. 3 Northeastern 2, No. 2 Drexel 0
Vivian Akyirem scored two second-half goals and Holland Stam recorded an eight-save shutout to send Northeastern back to the CAA Final with a 2-0 win at Drexel.
Akyirem scored in the 51st and 86th minutes after Northeastern withstood a first-half barrage. Stam made six saves in the first half to keep the game scoreless through 45 minutes despite Drexel outshooting Northeastern, 12-2.
Akyirem made a nice run from the left side and was set up by Megan Putvinski to poke the ball past the Drexel keeper for the game’s first goal. The second goal for Akyirem came off a pass from Jessie Hunt, who led the freshman past the Drexel defender to double the lead.
Northeastern was victorious despite being outshot 18-9. The Huskies utilized 17 players in the contest, while the Dragons played 16. Akyirem was responsible for four of Northeastern’s six shots on goal, while Casey Touey recorded three of Drexel’s eight.
The Huskies are into the final for the sixth time in the last 10 years with victories in 2013, 2014, and 2016.
CAA Women’s Soccer Championship Presented By Primis
Final – Saturday, Nov. 5 (Brookline, Mass.)
No. 8 Hofstra at No. 3 Northeastern – 1 p.m., FloFC