Beneath the lights of Stevenson-Pincince Field, the women’s soccer team (5-1-2, 0-0 Ivy) tied Hofstra University (3-1-4, 0-0 Coastal Athletic Association) 1-1 on Thursday. The Bears followed the performance with a resounding 4-0 win at Central Connecticut State University (0-4-1, 0-0 Northeast) on Sunday.
Coming off the heels of an impressive draw against No. 18 Wake Forest and a strong win against Northeastern University earlier this month, the Bears headed into this week’s matchups with momentum. From the moment the team walked onto the field against Hofstra, intensity ran high.
Despite a relentless Bruno pursuit, Hofstra seemed to have the upper hand during the opening stretch of the game. The Pride almost scored in the 14th minute after a diving save by star Bruno netminder Bella Schopp ’26 deflected the ball in front of the goal, sending it straight to the feet of a Hofstra attacker. Despite a clear shot, the Bears watched the ball bounce off the post with a sigh of relief.
As the first half progressed, Brown took to the offense, tallying a total of five shots, none of which found the back of the net. Following a series of unlucky attacks, and buoyed by two excellent Schopp saves, both teams entered halftime scoreless.
“We started too slow, which led to so many unforced errors, and we just couldn’t get control of the game like we would have liked in the first half,” star midfielder Joy Okonye ’27 wrote in an email to The Herald.
The second half picked up right where the first ended, with the same level of physicality and energy from both teams. When the final whistle blew, Brown had 12 fouls to Hofstra’s 11.
Nevertheless, both teams traded chances back and forth, hoping to tally a score before it was too late. In the 72nd minute, it was Hofstra that found glory when a failed defensive clearance by Brown resulted in a wide-open net for the opposition.
Just like that, Brown found itself trying to claw back as time continued to slip away. Hofstra hunkered down defensively, fearing the fleeting 19 minutes might still be too much time for an insurgence.
And they were correct. Just four minutes before the end of regulation, Brooke Birtwistle ’28 launched a heaven-sent ball into the box off of a free kick awarded to Brown. The ball found the head of two-time All-Ivy Honorable Mention defender Naya Cardoza ’26 for a beautiful header that the Hofstra goalkeeper could only admire as it sailed into the net.
“The second half was settling better, and we were more aggressive going forward and holding possession, especially after we conceded the goal,” Okonye said. “The game could’ve easily gotten away from us, but I am happy we were able to keep pushing and finally got the tying goal.”
The final minutes played out without change, and the match ended with a score of 1-1.
“The team showed a lot of fight there in the end to go down a goal and be able to come back in the last five minutes of the game,” Head Coach Kia McNeill said to Brown Athletics. “Our team hasn’t really faced a lot of adversity until today, and I think we showed fight and resilience, and we’re going to need that going forward.”
The team had minimal time to ponder on the draw, as another heavy-hitting matchup arrived just three days later when the Bears traveled to play CCSU on Sunday afternoon.
The only way to describe the matchup is pure domination from start to finish. Brown’s attack was relentless — for 90 minutes straight, the Blue Devils were grasping at straws, unable to withstand Bruno’s onslaught or launch any type of attack of their own.
Brown’s scoring spree started in the 37th minute when Birtwistle connected with Cardoza for a header that looked eerily similar to the team’s goal against Hofstra.
With a lead established, the Bruno train of attack kept rolling. Just a few minutes later, defender Hasti Gholami ’27 netted her first career goal after tapping one in following a corner kick.
With time winding down in the first half, the night of firsts continued when Corine Gregory ’27 tallied her first career goal in the 45th minute. Gregory received the ball in the box with her back turned toward the goal. She opened across the face of the goal to her left and cut the ball back into the bottom right corner of the net in a feat of athleticism.
The second half opened with a Cardoza header off of a perfectly lifted corner kick from Okonye. The goal marked Cardoza’s fourth of the year — which ties for the most goals in the Ivy League — and provided Okonye’s fourth assist, which leads the Ivy League.
For the rest of the game, Brown trounced the opposition, outshooting CCSU 21–6 and not allowing one shot on goal from the opposition. Schopp kept a clean slate as the Bears cruised to a 4–0 victory.
“Even with the result, I still think we have room to grow and can be more clinical in the final third during the run of play,” McNeill said. “That’s a scary thought after scoring four goals, but we have to continue to push towards our true potential to be in top form for Ivy play.”
The Bears’ final out-of-conference matchup before Ivy League play is slated for Wednesday at Providence College.
“It is a different feeling going into Ivies, so we want to start right,” Okonye said. “We just have to take game by game and keep reminding ourselves what Brown women’s soccer DNA is and feed off of that.”
