By Abdrew Scharff
As the hunted team in the CAA this season, the last thing the men’s soccer team wanted was to open conference play on a winless note.
After a tie at Towson on Friday, the Pride had its four-game unbeaten streak snapped at the hands of George Mason. The Patriots walked away with a 3-2, come-from-behind win over the Pride as sophomore defender Michael Vallie scored his first goal of the season off a corner kick with 2:20 left to play.
“We lost concentration a couple of times and it cost us the game essentially,” Hofstra head coach Richard Nuttall said.
The Patriots (6-2, 2-0 CAA), who won their fifth straight game, set up the winning goal when Jordan Mault took a corner kick and the Hofstra (3-3-2, 0-1-1) defenders could not clear the ball. GMU midfielder Adam Lobene fired off a shot, which was knocked down by Hofstra goalkeeper Tom Johansen, but Vallie came from the right side to knock in Lobene’s miss for the game-winning goal.
“You have to give credit to George Mason, they were the better team, they wanted it more, they worked harder, they had more determination,” Nuttall said.
The Pride allowed three goals for the first time this season. The last time the Hofstra’s defense allowed three goals in a game was Oct. 7, when it beat Towson 4-3 in double overtime.
The Patriots scored first as senior midfielder Francis McCardle went right up the middle of the field and beat Johansen as he entered the box.
The Pride answered right back as junior midfielder Chris Cox got Hofstra on the scoreboard off a crossing pass from senior defender Gary Flood. Four minutes later, Hofstra took a 2-1 lead as Constantinos Christoudias scored his second goal of the year off a pass from freshman midfielder Rob Youhill.
Despite the loss, it was good to see some offense come from Cox and Christoudias. Besides the win against New Hampshire on Sept. 17, most of the offense has been provided by Michael Todd, who was completely shut down by the Patriots. If the Pride wants to return the NCAA Tournament, it would need to keep getting those contributions from players like Cox and Christoudias.
“Consti is coming around. He’s almost there. You can see it by the minutes he is playing,” Pride assistant coach Brian Suskiewicz said. “When the entire team is healthy we are talented enough to win the CAA’s and possibly NCAA’s.”
The Patriots out-shot the Pride 21-5, with 13 of those coming in the second half, far too much for Johansen (six saves) to withstand.
The Pride held the lead until the 76th minute until GMU tied the game. Sophomore midfielder Chris Carroll buried a chip shot in the back-left corner for his first goal and knotted the game up at two.
Hofstra did have its chances to re-take lead. Cox had a chance with a header, but it hit the crossbar and Youhill missed a one-on-one opportunity.
The Pride knows that it let one get away, and Nuttall said the team has to learn its lesson and focus on this weekend ahead as William & Mary and Old Dominion will be coming to Hempstead.
“We have to put our nose to the grindstone, work hard, remedy what went wrong last week, then do it right in practice and then try to apply it to the game,” Nuttall said.
News & Notes: Hofstra played last Friday night at Towson and earned its second tie on the season. Michael Todd scored for the Pride, his fifth goal on the season…After not starting against UNH, junior midfielder Ray Hassett returned to the starting lineup in both games…The Pride will host William & Mary on Friday at 7 p.m. and then the team will challenge Old Dominion Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. Hofstra beat Old Dominion 1-0 on a last second goal last year in the CAA Championship game.