Club Sports Roundup

Hofstra Quidditch Club hosted the spring opener of the Big Apple Quidditch Conference on Saturday, March 5^th, hosting Macaulay Honors College, Philadelphia Honey Badgers, Rutgers University, and Stony Brook University. The Flying Dutchmen had narrow losses to Philadelphia and Rutgers, but beat Long Island rivals Stony Brook 100-20, and Macaulay 120-110 in an exciting overtime victory. The Flying Dutchmen are currently preparing for the Knights Cup on Sunday, March 20^th, which will take place at Rutgers University and includes 16 of the best teams from the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.

Hofstra Equestrian Club added another competitive and successful day to their spring diary, this week traveling to Leonia, New Jersey for their show on Sunday, March 6^th. Julissa Hoogeveen kept up her consistency, with great performances in both her Open Fences and Open Flat classes, earning her 4^th place. Kiersten Berwick had a fantastic ride in Intermediate Flat winning a second place ribbon, and added a respectable 5^th place ribbon following her ride in Intermediate Fences. Maria Sorrentino had a brilliant day with a second place finish in Intermediate Flat and a first in Novice Fences. Katie Milford wrapped up a great day with a 4^th place in Advanced Walk Trot Canter, and Maria Sorrentino was named Reserve High Point Rider of the entire show – a truly impressive accolade.

Maria Sorrentino shows off her 1st and 2nd place ribbons at the Hofstra Equestrian team's show in Leonia, New Jersey.

Hofstra Women’s Club Lacrosse had an exciting round robin tournament on Sunday, March 5^th, inviting Quinnipiac and NYU to play at Shuart Stadium. First up for the Pride was Quinnipiac, a team who recently joined the conference and were clearly eager to impress on their debut; at the conclusion of an intense battle, the visitors managed to clinch an 8-6 victory. The Hofstra women were quick to make amends for their loss, beating NYU 8-7 in an overtime thriller.

Hofstra Women's Club Lacrosse team celebrates after their thrilling 8-7 win over NYU.

Hofstra Women’s Ultimate Frisbee Club were at the University Delaware for the weekend of March 5th-6th, competing in six games and coming away with a 3-3 record. The Pride earned victories over Towson, West Virginia, and Lehigh, while falling short to UConn, Maryland, and Vermont. Highlights of the tournament included some excellent offense by senior, Madison Scheffer, and sophomore, Emily Meredith, while Kellie O’Brien and Miranda Pasquarella provided solid defense.  

Hofstra Running Club sent 11 athletes to compete at the New York Road Runner Night at the Races 4 on Friday, March 4^th, which took place at the NYC Armory New Balance Track and Field Center. Ryan Connell achieved a 4:59.24 one mile run, and Zachary Englis managed a 5:46.39 one mile run, placing them 49^th and 79^th out of 110 participants. The Pride finished 13^th out of 17 in the mixed relay, with a team comprised of: Ryan Connel, Eric Monsurez, Peter Soucy, Brittany Davis, Ally Geiger, Adel Elkosh, Rebecca Torvic, Holly Johnston, Teale Armknecht, and Tammy Karikal. The club will next compete on Saturday, March 19^th at St. John’s University.

Hofstra Running Club strikes a pose at the world famous NYC Armory.

Hofstra Men’s Rugby Club kicked off their spring season on Saturday, March 5^th with an away game at William Paterson University. With a string of injuries to key starters, the Pride put up a valiant fight, but ultimately suffered a 31-21 defeat. 

Hofstra Rock Climbing Club enjoyed two successful visits to The Cliffs at Long Island City on February 27^th and March 5^th, with all 28 climbers are seeing individual improvement as the weeks go on.

Hofstra’s 27 Club Sports are always looking for new members and welcome all experience levels.  If you would like to find out more information about joining one of our clubs, please visit hofstra.edu/recreation and click on the ‘Club Sports’ tab, or feel free to visit us at the Hofstra Fitness Center with any questions you may have!

Ruby Staplehurst, Guest Blogger
Graduate Assistant, Recreation and Intramural Sports

Club Sports Roundup

Welcome to the first Club Sports Roundup of the spring semester! Let’s get everyone all caught up…

Hofstra Ice Hockey Club defeated Columbia University 12-2 on Friday, January 29^th at Northwell Health Ice Center at Eisenhower Park. The Pride were led by David Craig, who recorded a hat trick. He was joined on the scoring ledger by Andrew Gagnon, Darren Schwartz, John Voilkis, Brandon Fauci, Jamie Esperto, and Giuseppe Chiaravelle. Sal Noto had 20 saves in goal for Hofstra. 

Hofstra Table Tennis Club traveled to the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan on Sunday February 7^th, to take part in a tournament including CCNY, Yeshiva, Stony Brook, Columbia, and the College of Staten Island. The playing standard was incredibly high with some players even having Olympic experience, but Hofstra managed team victories over Yeshiva and CCNY, and a number of singles and doubles wins thanks to Daniel Zhu, Tanzim Bhuyla, Max Kutsch, and Liam Doogue. The Pride finished the tournament tied for third place.

Hofstra Rock Climbing Club welcomed a host of new members with a trip to the brand new Brooklyn Boulders Queensbridge location on Saturday, February 6^th. The group of over 40 members had a successful climb and are looking forward to another fun-filled semester together.

Hofstra Women’s Club Lacrosse came up against some tough competition on Sunday, February 21^st as they took on Binghamton University and SUNY Cortland at Shuart Stadium on Hofstra’s campus. Despite goals from Linnea Barbour, Amanda Gross, and Rikki Glazer, and valiant performances from goalies Elissa Salamy and Jazmine Gonzalez, the Pride fell to Binghamton 21-1 and SUNY Cortland 12-5. The team will host their Senior Day on Sunday, March 13^th at Shuart Stadium against Central Connecticut State and Fordham University. 

Hofstra Men’s Club Lacrosse enjoyed an idyllic season opener on Sunday, February 28^th, defeating Monmouth and NYU on home turf at Shuart Stadium. In the first game of the day, the Pride defeated Monmouth 12-6. Mike Benvenuti scored five goals, while Ryan Garry and Tyler O’Brien each managed two. Next up, NYU struggled to compete against Hofstra’s momentum as Hofstra came away with a 9-1 victory. Ben LeCates notched two goals for Hofstra, and Tyler O’Brien registered his second multi-goal game, scoring three. The team will next be in action on Wednesday, March 9^th, when they host Columbia University.

Hofstra Men’s Ultimate Frisbee attended a tournament at Princeton University on Saturday, February 27^th and Sunday, February 28^th. The Pride went 5-2 on the weekend, beating Northeastern, Rowan, Messiah, Rider, and Rutgers. Brian Kelly and Gabriel De Oliveira amassed a number of assists throughout the weekend, while Ben Denaga pulled down two consecutive goals in a tight win over Rutgers.  

Hofstra Equestrian had a solid start to their spring season on Sunday, February 28^th, as the squad traveled to Huntington, New York to compete in the NYU Show. Julissa Hoogeveen placed 5^th in a very competitive Open Fences class and Kierstin Berwick followed with a 4^th place ribbon in Intermediate Fences. Maria Sorrentino had a great day securing a 2^nd place finish in Novice Fences after a beautiful ride. She also scored 3^rd place in Intermediate Flat. To end a successful day, Katie Milford won her Advanced Walk Trot Canter class.

Hofstra’s 30 Club Sports are always looking for new members and welcome all experience levels.  If you would like to find out more information about joining one of our clubs, please visit hofstra.edu/recreation and click on the ‘Club Sports’ tab, or feel free to visit us at the Hofstra Fitness Center with any questions you may have!

Ruby Staplehurst, Guest Blogger
Graduate Assistant, Recreation and Intramural Sports

Hofstra University’s Alpha Phi Emerges As Leading Organization In Sorority and Fraternity Life

The executive board members of the Alpha Phi Theta Mu chapter at Hofstra recently achieved a major milestone and are celebrating with Hofstra pride.

At a recent conference, Alpha Phi at Hofstra won the "Most Improved Chapter Award" amongst 41 other chapters.

The conference was hosted in Newark, New Jersey and was attended by the sorority's executive board. Board members that attended the event included the president (Rebecca Costa), the VP of risk management (Bibi Bogues) the VP of chapter operations (Danielle Esposito), the VP of member recruitment (Krissy Weller), the VP of marketing (Julia Suchocki), the VP of programming and education (Nikki Martinez), and the VP of campus affairs (Elli Reid). Additionally, the director of formal recruitment (Mckenzie Cramer) and the chapter advisor (Mary Beth Tully) were present at the conference.

The leaders in the organization collaborated with various national advisors and chapter members around the northern quadrant.

Alpha Phi at Hofstra was ranked as the number one recruiting sorority at Hofstra. Their quota was filled and had top return rates from round to round. Additionally, they continuously opened bid (COB) for seven new members in the fall. Their members are paying dues on times and are invested in helping the chapter flourish.

Additionally, the group received four stars with Hofstra's 5-star program and is striving to become a gold chapter with Hofstra's Letter with Pride program.

"We all learned a lot during the conference that we can utilize to grow Theta Mu and improve overall chapter morale," said Rebecca Costa, president of the chapter. "Keeping chapter culture and involvement high is my number one goal this semester. Our term as e-board is one short year, but we can set a tone and pace for the future of this chapter."

The next step for Alpha Phi at Hofstra is to be considered for the "Order of the Lamp" or "Most Outstanding Chapter Award" at the conference next year.

More about the Theta Mu chapter:

Alpha Phi Theta Mu was started in 1991. The Theta Mu chapter currently has 62 sisters, including the 18 new girls from this semester.

The sorority is celebrating 25 years as Theta Mu at their upcoming Red Dress Gala by recognizing their alumni.

Theta Mu's Philanthropy:

Alpha Phi at Hofstra aims to raise awareness for the importance of cardiac care. This year, the chapter will be hosting the 5th annual Red Dress Gala to raise money for their cause. Additionally, they are tabling in the Student Center selling Alpha Phi Heart Health bracelets for National Heart Health Month. In the fall, the organization will be hosting a "Hoops for Hearts" tournament as well as a "Phiesta Bowl" (flag football tournament).

Hofstra Volleyball World Cup

Continuing with our mission to encourage cross-cultural exchange and balance the stress of student life, International Student Affairs collaborated with Recreation and Intramural Sports for yet another time to organize the Hofstra World Cup series. Hofstra Volleyball World Cup took place on Saturday, February 20, 2016 at the Hofstra Mack Fitness Center.

It was a one day indoor volleyball tournament where 10 different teams like Netherlands, India, Italy, South Africa, Djibouti, USA and Latvia to name a few participated in this exciting event. It was a double elimination event where winning team would progress to the next level and the losing team would get another chance before getting eliminated.

After 18 action thrilled games, team Jamaica walked away with the title of winners of Hofstra Volleyball World Cup while Team Greece had to play some hard fought games to end up as the runners up. All participating teams in the event were provided with t-shirts, Gatorade energy drinks, and water with the winners receiving intramural championship t-shirts, Hofstra scarves, and this magnificent trophy.

Hofstra World Cup is organized once per semester with a different sport every time in order to promote friendly relations among international and domestic student population at Hofstra University and encourage a sense of sportsmanship and team work in our students.

Guest Blogger: Kavneet Baweja
Graduate Student – MBA Business Analytics
Graduate Assistant – International Student Affairs

Reflections from a Global Mentor

“A Brit, a German and a Saudi sit down for dinner…” sounds like the set-up for a bad joke, but for me, it was the beginning of a great friendship. As a global mentor, I am part of the team of people who welcome and support Hofstra’s international students. We help with orientation, bring mentees to school events throughout the semester, organize impromptu study sessions and – of course – meet up with fellow internationals for dinner.

I have learned how to say “Thank you” in Russian, how Bolivians kiss you on both cheeks to say hello and that sometimes the best way to treat homesickness is watching videos of the “Eurovision Song Contest”. I have learned that for Japanese, Root Beer smells like “Icy Hot”, and “Mexican cheese” doesn’t exist in Mexico. But most importantly, I have learned that the foreign isn’t always so unfamiliar after all and that laughter sounds the same in every language. We tell each other stories of how home tastes and feels and smells and looks like (they say Britain smells like rain) and I want to travel the world to see all these places and people again. I want to stand on the busy Beijing streets and hike to the Mayan ruins in Guatemala. But together with the international students,


I also explore what is here. We tan on Coney Island, instead of Costa Rica, and eat Pretzels in a beer garden in Brooklyn, not Bavaria. We ice-skate in Central Park and eat Burgers while walking down Fifth Avenue. And I swear, the only thing better than seeing Times Square is watching somebody else see Times Square for the first time.
Without being a global mentor, I would have never met many of these wonderful people or made any of these memories. So the next time somebody starts with “a Brit, a German and a Saudi want to sit down for dinner…” come along, you might make some great international friends.

Guest blogger: Sarah Gerwens, Global Mentor

If you are interested in learning more about the Global Mentor Program you may do so by visiting the Global Mentor page. Applications for the Fall 2016 semester are currently being accepted. Global Mentor applications are available in International Student Affairs, room 040 Memorial Hall. Applications are due March 18, 2016.