The Pride
on the Rise in '05
The calendar year 2005 will be remembered as one of the
most successful athletic years in Hofstra history. Four
Pride teams Wrestling, Softball, Men's Soccer and Women's
Soccer won Colonial Athletic Association championships,
and two other teams Women's Lacrosse and Volleyball
were regular season conference champions. In addition, all of
Hofstra's teams advanced to CAA Playoff competition in 2005.
The Pride also boasted numerous All-America, All-Region and
All-CAA selections and had several teams ranked in the
national polls.
|
Jon Masa from the All-America stand at the NCAA Wrestling Championships.
|
|
The Wrestling team claimed Hofstra's first CAA championship
of the year as it had seven individual champions and
two second-place finishers, all of whom advanced to the
NCAA Wrestling Championships in St. Louis, Missouri. Jon
Masa fared the best in St. Louis, as he earned All-America
honors after placing third at 149 pounds and led the Pride to
a 17th-place team finish. Masa also earned CAA Wrestler of
the Year accolades, while freshman Charles Griffin was the
CAA's Rookie of the Year. Paul Siemon was the CAA Wrestling
Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and Tom Ryan took home his
fourth consecutive CAA Coach of the Year award. The Men's
Basketball team also heated things up in the winter, posting a
21-9 record and earning an invite to the postseason NIT.
Antoine Agudio earned the CAA Rookie of the Year award,
while Loren Stokes earned All-CAA and All-Metropolitan New
York accolades. The Women's Basketball team advanced to the
CAA quarter finals, but fared much better during the summer
2005. Coach Felisha Legette-Jack served as an assistant coach
on the gold medal-winning USA Basketball U19 World
Championship squad, while Cigi McCollin and Vanessa
Gidden led the Long Island team to its first gold medal in 20
years at the Empire State Games. In addition, Lizanne Murphy
played for Team Canada at the World University Games in
Izmir, Turkey.
The Softball team continued its strong play by winning
the CAA Championship for the fourth consecutive year and
its eighth straight conference title dating back to the America
East Conference. The team then proceeded to knock off
perennial Pac-10 power Arizona State at the NCAA Regionals
to advance to the regional final for the second season in a row, setting a school record for wins in a season (43) in the
process. Lisa Wambold and Callie Osborne, respectively,
earned the CAA Player and Pitcher of the Year awards, and
along with Ashley Lane, Hailey Clark and Stefanie Kenney,
were named to the NFCA Louisville Slugger All-Mid-Atlantic
Region team. The Hofstra coaching staff, led by Bill Edwards,
was named the Mid-Atlantic Region Coaching Staff of the Year
by the NFCA for the third consecutive season. The team also
excelled in the classroom, finishing 20th in the nation in team
GPA. The Women's Lacrosse team, which ranked 14th in the
nation, seemed poised to join Softball as an NCAA
Tournament team, but after dominating the regular season
with a 6-1 conference mark (13-3 overall), the Pride lost in
the CAA championship game. Bridget Eder became the program's
first-ever first team All-American after earning the distinction
from the IWLCA. Becky Thorn also earned All-
America honors as she was named to the IWLCA third team.
Eder, Thorn and Kim Hillier were also selected to the IWLCA
All-North Region team. In addition, Eder was named the CAA
Defensive Player of the Year, and Coach Shelley Klaes-
Bawcombe was the CAA Coach of the Year.
The Men's Lacrosse team was a CAA semifinalist in 2005
and finished the year ranked 20th in the nation. Brett Moyer
earned USILA All-America second team and CAA Defensive
Player of the Year accolades, while Mike Unterstein was
honored as the CAA's Rookie of the Year. The Baseball team
ended a seven-year postseason drought by qualifying for the
CAA Championship. Ricky Caputo and Josh Stewart earned
ABCA/Rawlings All-East Region accolades at the conclusion of
the season. In Men's Tennis Nicola Djordjevic earned All-CAA
first team accolades, and was also named the CAA Men's
Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year and was selected to the
ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-America team. The
Women's Tennis squad also performed well in the classroom,
as it was one of only 83 programs to receive ITA All-Academic
Team honors.
2005 CAA Champions
Men's Soccer, Women's Soccer,
Softball, Wrestling
2005 Regular Season
CAA Champions
Volleyball, Women's Lacrosse
NCAA Tournament Team
Softball
Postseason NIT Participant
Men's Basketball
|
Hofstra's fall campaign was successful across the board as
all six sports programs had winning seasons. Men's Soccer and
Women's Soccer both earned CAA Championships and
advanced to the NCAA Tournament. It was the second consecutive
title and NCAA trip for the men, while the women's
team earned its inaugural championship in Coach JoAnne
Russell's final season with the Pride. Edel Malone was named
the CAA Women's Soccer Rookie of the Year, while Sara
Weber earned the CAA's Defensive Player of the Year trophy.
Men's Soccer ranked 13th in the nation in the final regular
season poll of the season. The two programs also saw each
one of their star players earn Academic All-America honors as
Michael Todd was a third team selection and Chrissy Arnone
was a second team pick.
The Football team finished the year 7-4 overall in Joe
Gardi's final season at the helm and had 11 All-Atlantic 10
selections, while the Volleyball team won the regular season
CAA championship, but lost in the CAA semifinals.
Shellane Ogoshi was the big winner at the CAA Volleyball
Awards Banquet, as she garnered CAA Player and CAA
Setter of the Year accolades. The Field Hockey team
advanced to the semifinals of the CAA Championship and
saw four players Kara McEneaney, Doni-Melissa Jantzen,
Pemba Ramdoo and Jessica Cowperthwait named to the
All-Mideast Region team.
The Hofstra Women's Cross Country team, led by
freshman sensation Mary Sullivan, enjoyed a successful 2005
campaign by winning two of seven meets and finishing in the
top three in five meets. Sullivan placed second at the CAA
Championship to earn All-CAA accolades. The Pride Men's
Cross Country team participated in seven meets in 2005,
winning two and placing second in two and third in one.
While 2005 can be considered nothing less than a
success, all of Hofstra's athletic teams continue to aim high
and will look to improve even more in the coming years.
|
|