Alyssa Parrella, Hofstra women get third straight victory

Hofstra has responded to a tough home loss earlier this month with a dominant run that has the Pride playing some of its best lacrosse of the season heading into conference play.

This surge continued Thursday night at Shuart Stadium, where Alyssa Parrella had six goals and three assists and Katie Whelan added five goals to lead Hofstra to a 17-7 win over New Hampshire in a non-conference game. After an eight-goal loss to Fairfield on March 16, Hofstra has won three straight games by a combined margin of 49-18 heading into its conference opener against Elon next Friday night.

“We don’t want to taste failure, we don’t to lose anymore [and] we don’t want that feeling anymore,” Parrella said of the team’s response to the Fairfield loss. “We want this feeling [tonight] and we want to keep moving forward.”

Parrella’s move from midfield to attack has been one of the catalysts of the Pride’s winning streak, as she has 18 points during this stretch. Her nine points on Thursday marked a career high and the most for a Hofstra player since 2015 (when Brittain Altomare had nine against Quinnipiac).

Another spark has come from Whelan, a freshman from Long Beach who has 11 goals in her last three games.

“Everyone has been finding me well and moving well off the ball,” Whelan said. “Everyone is dialed in.”

Hofstra (6-4) led 5-1 near the midway point of the first half and used a 5-1 run in the second to go ahead 11-4. Alexa Mattera added two goals to bring her season tally to 27, as she continues her breakout sophomore season. Pride goalie Maddie Fields came into the day ranked 22nd nationally in save percentage and upped her rate to 50 percent after stopping 10 of the 17 shots she faced on Thursday night.