On Tuesday, Sept 16, two second-half goals were enough for the No. 9 University of Vermont to defeat the Hofstra University men’s soccer team 2-1 for the second straight season.
In the 84th minute, Vermont won a corner, playing it short to Nico Loebus, who lofted a cross up to the head of Niels Hartman. Hartman put it past Hofstra goalkeeper Gino Cervoni, for the game-winner.
The Pride is familiar with the reigning National Champions, who knocked Hofstra out of the NCAA Championship at Captains Field 2-1 last November, the only loss the Pride picked up at home last season.
Despite the makeup of the rosters being different, Hofstra retained 10 players from that team that fell to Vermont last season, including five players who made an appearance in the previous matchup. Vermont retained close to 16 of its players from the National Championship winning team, including 10 players from their last matchup with the Pride.
Vermont came off an impressive 1-0 victory over No. 3 The University of Akron, coming in undefeated with a 4-0-3 record this season. Hofstra started the season slowly but has since rebounded and won three straight games to enter with a 4-2-0 record.
The majority of the first half was played in Hofstra’s half of the field, whether it was Hofstra trying to build an attack from the back or Vermont attacking. At the end of the first half, the shots were six to zero in favor of Vermont. Hofstra had three fouls to Vermont’s six, and the Catamounts had four corners to the Pride’s one.
The game started with a fast pace as both teams raced out of the gates. The first real chance of the game came from Vermont’s Marcell Papp, who fired and missed wide about seven minutes into the game.
The first chance for Hofstra came after the Pride won a free kick on the left edge of the box. Stefano Campisi’s attempt ended up hitting the Vermont wall of defenders.
The next chance for the Catamounts came when Connor Thompson struck a volley from outside of the box that landed in the hands of Cervoni. The Catamounts would get a couple more chances before the end of the half, but none were able to beat Cervoni.
Vermont got the second half underway and found the first chance of the half, as Rui Aoki flicked a header that landed in the grasp of Cervoni about five minutes into the second half.
The first 15 minutes of the second half were shaping like the first half, with Vermont having the Pride’s share of chances, including David Ismail sending a cross that just barely missed the head of Philipp Kühn about 65 minutes into the game.
All the Catamount chances eventually led to a goal in the 69th minute. Jan Ziewiec attempted a clearance that would bounce off Kühn and lead to a Vermont goal. It was Kühn’s third goal in five matches this season.
Giving up the goal sparked a much-needed fire under the Pride, as they went on the attack, and it ended up resulting in a magnificent strike from Samuel Francou. It was a strike from outside of the box that took a deflection off Aoki, for Francou’s first collegiate goal. The goal was the first of the season for the Pride that wasn’t scored by Daniel Burko or Laurie Goddard.
After Vermont conceded, the pressure increased, just as Hofstra did. The last 10 minutes of action were all Vermont, starting with another Thompson strike that Cervoni caught.
Vermont led in shots, finishing with 18, including eight on target, compared to Hofstra’s five shots with three on target. The Pride committed fewer fouls than the Catamounts, committing 10 to Vermont’s 13. In terms of corners, Hofstra could not pick up a corner in the second half, having one for the game compared to Vermont’s seven.
Tuesday’s match was the 14th matchup between the Pride and the Catamounts, with the all-time series record moving to 7-6-1, in favor of Vermont.
Up next, the Pride hosts Monmouth University in a Coastal Athletic Association matchup, kickoff from Captains Field is set for 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept 20.
