TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University women's soccer team will head back to New Jersey on Sunday, Oct. 30 to take on eight seed Hofstra in the CAA Tournament Semifinals at 2 p.m.
 
The Tigers are coming off their first CAA Tournament victory in program history, 2-1 against four seed Elon on Thursday. Nia Christopher scored a first half goal and assisted on a second half goal by Phoebe Canoles.
 
The winner of the game between the Tigers and the Pride will take on the winner of No. 2 Drexel and No. 3 Northeastern on Saturday, Nov. 5 for a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
 
Hofstra leads the all-time series 13-1, having won the last ten matchups. This will be the second meeting in the CAA Tournament. Hofstra took a 1-0 decision back in 2014.
 
TIGERS EARN CAA HONORS:
Riley Melendez was named CAA Goalkeeper of the Year on Wednesday morning. In the process, Melendez becomes the first Tiger to earn a major award since the Tigers joined the CAA in 2002.
 
Melendez was joined on the All-CAA First Team by classmate Nia Christopher. Christopher earned her fourth All-CAA honor and her second straight All-CAA First Team award.
 
Phoebe Canoles, Jasmine Hamid, and Maja Hansson were named to the 2022 All-CAA Second Team. For Canoles it was her third all-conference honor while Hamid and Hansson earned their first all-conference nods.
 
CHRISTOPHER GOING FOR TU GOALS RECORD
Nia Christopher stands with 27 career goals in her Towson career, including 13 as a sophomore in 2021.  The Bermuda National Team forward is going for the record currently held by Emily Banes, who scored 30 goals from 2008-13.
 
Välkommen till Towson universitet
Towson sports two starters from Sweden: redshirt junior Demi Pierre, from Gävle, All-CAA Second Team midfielder in spring 2021, and Maja Hansson, from Sandviken, a junior who played for the U18 Swedish National Team.
 
In addition, Nia Christopher is also from outside the U.S., being a member of the Senior National Team of Bermuda.  She competed with Bermuda in the CONCACAF qualifiers, netting a hat trick against the Cayman Islands.
 
2021-22 USC COLLEGE TEAM ACADEMIC AWARD
For the fourth straight year, Towson was honored with the USC College Team Academic Award for having a team GPA of 3.0 or better.  Towson had a 3.31 GPA during the 2021-22, placing 16 on the CAA Academic Honor Roll.
 
LAST MATCH: TOWSON TOPS ELON
Towson took down the Phoenix in the CAA Quarterfinals, 2-1.
Top Towson offensive player:
--Nia Christopher: 1 G, 1 A, 4 SH
Towson goalkeeper:
--Riley Melendez: 2 SV, 1 GA

RECORD-BREAKING DAY
The Tigers had a record setting day against Delaware State in their 7-0 win. The team tied the program record for most non-conference win with six. The Tigers also set the program record for longest win streak at five games.
 
Nia Christopher set the program record for most goals in a single game with five, while also moving into sixth place on the all-time scoring list.

tOP SCORERS ARE BACK
Fresh off its first winning season since 2007, Towson returns is top five goal scorers from last year: Nia Christopher (13), Khori Banks (4), Jasmine Hamid (3), Phoebe Canoles (3) and Demi Pierre (2).  Christopher's 13 goals are third all-time in program single season history.
 
In addition, Hamid (6), Canoles (4) and Pierre (3) were the top three Tigers in assists last year.  Hamid's six assists tied for seventh in Towson single season history.
 
RILEY READY
Riley Melendez is a two-time All-CAA goalkeeper in as many seasons with the program.  She played all but 20 minutes in the cage in 2021.  Her 169 saves stand 9th all-time in Towson history plus she has a career 0.85 goals allowed average, which currently is second all-time in program history.
 
Melendez earned CAA Defensive Player of the Week honors on October 10 after posting a pair of shutouts against Charleston and UNCW. Melendez made four saves against the Cougars and two against the Seahawks for her eighth and ninth shutouts of the year.
 
CHRISTOPHER - CAA PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Nia Christopher was honored as the CAA Preseason Player of the Year, voted on by the league's head coaches.  Christopher was second in the CAA last season with 13 goals, including five game-winners.
 
CANOLES - PRESEASON ALL-CAA TEAM
Team captain Phoebe Canoles earned a spot on the Preseason All-CAA Team.  The 2021 All-CAA Third Team midfielder started all 18 games last year, scoring three goals and four assists.
 
In addition, team captain Jacey Miller was CAA Preseason Honorable Mention, playing all 1,637 minutes on the back line in 2021.
 
FIVE SPOT IN THREE STATES
Towson has five players each from three different states: New Jersey, Pennsylvania and the home state of Maryland.
 
Two Maryland natives reside in Baltimore County: sophomore Chiara Menegatti went to Towson High while Phoebe Canoles attended Perry Hall High.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT:
Hofstra comes into the semifinal matchup at 8-7-4 after knocking off the top seed Monmouth, 1-1 (5-4 PK's) on Thursday afternoon. The Pride are the defending champions in the CAA, defeating Northeastern 2-1 in last year's title game. Five different Hofstra players have scored three or more goals, led by Thorhildur Thorhallsdottir and Ellen Halseth with six goals each. Thorhallsdottir also has four assists for 16 points. Skylar Kuzmich has started every game for the Pride, allowing 21 goals (1.12 GAA) making 51 saves (.708 save percentage) with six shutouts.