WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - William & Mary field hockey dropped its 2025 home finale in narrow fashion, 2-0, to visiting Hofstra on Friday afternoon at Busch Field.
 
Despite another stellar performance in goal from junior Alexander de Jesus and a huge defensive save from classmate Mackinzie Brown, the Pride scored once each in the second and fourth quarters to edge the Tribe. de Jesus registered her third-straight game with double-digit saves, totaling 12 on the day.
 
Hofstra (8-8, 1-3 CAA) narrowly missed taking an early lead just 1:19 into the game as Pilar Penaloza's shot hit the post. Less than 10 seconds later, de Jesus made her first save of the afternoon to keep it scoreless.
 
Senior Emme Schwartz had a pair of shots off a penalty corner in the 21st minute to potentially put W&M (1-13, 0-4 CAA) on the board. Each time, Hofstra goalkeeper Luci Hollister was up to the task. She stopped a shot off an initial penalty corner, before Schwartz went low with a rebound attempt from the left side, but again Hollister made the save.
 
de Jesus made back-to-back saves around a penalty corner in the 22nd minute, and the Tribe nearly caught Hofstra on the counter attack. Junior Sophie Ermellini got behind the Pride defense and fed a pass to the back post where classmate Ellen Ford redirected a shot just wide of the cage.
 
Brown made a huge defensive save, the third of her career, a minute later. de Jesus got a pad on Jamie Mc Millan's shot, but the ball trickled toward the cage. Brown cleared it off the goal line to preserve the scoreless match.  
 
Hofstra finally broke through on its fifth shot on goal of the second quarter On the play, Gwenn van Dijk carried the ball into the right side of the circle and centered a pass to the penalty spot. Kelly Levengood collected and wrapped a shot around de Jesus into the right side boards to give the visitor a 1-0 lead in the 25th minute.
 
de Jesus had a pair of three-save sequences to end the second quarter and start the third. The Tribe goalkeeper made three stops over a 24-second segment to end the half. She then made three more saves over a 47-second stretch, less than 2:30 into the third frame.
 
With less than two minutes left in third quarter, senior Erin Griffin had a great chance to pull the Tribe even.  Off a penalty corner. Griffin collected a rebound from a saved Amelia Morgan shot and retreated with possession on the right side of the area. Pulling the goalkeeper off her line, Griffin tried to lift a shot over Hollister, but Hofstra's keeper got a pad to it and blocked it away.
 
The Tribe had two great opportunities just over a minute into the fourth quarter. Junior Bridget Lawn centered a pass from the right end line that caught the stick of freshman Gia Zarro in front, but Hollister was able to make the save. On the ensuing Tribe penalty corner, Schwartz had a hard shot from the left side, but Hollister blocked it in front.
 
Hofstra put the game out of reach with less than five minutes remaining. A Tribe turnover gave the Pride possession in the area, and Penaloza carried to the endline and centered a pass to Jaime Lewis at the back post. The Pride forward one-timed a shot into the left side boards to extend the margin to 2-0.
 
With her 12 saves on the day, de Jesus increased her season total to 138, which ranks 12th in W&M history. It is the most for a Tribe goalkeeper since 1997 and the most in the CAA since 2021.
 
Hofstra finished with an 18-12 advantage in shots, including a 15-6 cushion on goal. The Pride generated seven penalty corners to the Tribe's five. Schwartz led W&M with four shots, including three on goal.
 
The Tribe opens a three-match road trip to end the season, beginning at Richmond on Sunday, Oct. 26. The contest carries a 4 p.m. start time and will be broadcast on ESPN+.