HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – Lexi Romero scored her second goal in as many games and Leah Freeman and the Oregon defense made it stand up for a 1-0 win over Hofstra in a match played in a constant downpour Sunday at Hofstra Soccer Stadium.
“Hofstra is a very good team with a great home record,” said Oregon head coach Graeme Abel. “As we mature as a group, road games and our ability to handle those environments are crucial.”
Sunday was the first match between the Ducks and Hofstra (4-2-1), a team that advanced to the second round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament out of the Colonial Athletic Conference.
How it Happened: After Freeman made three saves to keep the match scoreless early in the half, the Ducks (2-2-3) scored the only goal of the match in the 38th minute.
Defender Ainsley Fink cleared the ball out of Oregon’s half to the right corner where Ajanae Respass won a challenge for the ball against Hofstra’s defense. The freshman made a quick spin move out of the corner to pin her defender behind her and created an open lane to pass the ball to Romero five yards in front of the goal. Romero got her foot to the ball and slipped it under Hofstra goalkeeper Skylar Kuzmich into the left side of the net.
The Ducks pressed for a second goal for much of the second half with six shots and nearly broke through when Respass beat Kuzmich in the 82nd minute only to have a Hofstra defender clear the ball off the line at the last second.
Freeman made three more saves in the second half for her second clean sheet of the season.
What It Means: Oregon snapped a…
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