By Doug Bonjour
As the clock displayed zero for Richard Nuttall and the Hofstra men’s soccer team following Thursday’s 1-0 win over Northeastern, the final score signified the end of a season which Nuttall described as “hugely disappointing.”
Entering a year in which the Pride looked to build off its recent success and take home a fourth consecutive Colonial Athletic Conference championship, the Pride walked off the Hofstra Soccer Stadium field with expectations left unfulfilled. In the end, Hofstra could only muster up a 7-9-2 overall record, including a 6-5 mark in conference games, which placed them in a seventh place tie within the CAA. Hofstra was in contention for a playoff berth until the season’s final weekend, but a 1-0 loss to Towson, coupled with results from James Madison and Virginia Commonwealth, eliminated the Pride from the possibility of slipping in the backdoor of the six-team conference playoffs.
The win over Northeastern also marked the end of a career for one of the most successful classes in Hofstra soccer history. Midfielders Chris Cox, Ray Hassett, Adrian Papaluca and Charalambos Rossides, as well as goaltender Tom Johansen, all left the field for the final time. In the last four years, Hofstra has amassed a 45-29-9 overall record, with three CAA championships and two NCAA tournament wins.
“We found it too late. At the end, we were really relaxed and we were playing really well. We know we were good enough to get in [the playoffs],” said Cox, who scored the lone goal in the team’s final game.
Johansen also expressed similar feelings following the finale, a game in which he recorded five saves for the shutout and the fourteenth and final win of his career.
“We had a good squad. The talent was there. It kind of came together a little late. We didn’t get the wins where we needed to,” said Johansen.
For the Pride, 2007 was a matter of too little, too late. After a slow start in which Hofstra went 1-6-2 in its first nine games, the team resembled a polar opposite in the final nine games, going 6-3.
The team was bitten by the injury bug in the worst of ways during much of the season, as Cox, who when on the field, proved to be a go-to-guy for the offense with his six goals, was limited to 11 starts because of various foot and leg injuries.
“Cox, he’s the best player in the conference. But he’s not been truly fit until the last couple of games, and even then, he’s been struggling with a groin [injury],” said Nuttall.
Youthful defenders Joseph Amendolare and Jamal Neptune also missed significant playing time with injuries, as they combined to sit out nine games.
“The biggest thing that hurt us was Neptune and Amendolare going down at Stony Brook. Losing them for five or six or seven games, and once they got back into a rhythm, it got the team going back into a rhythm,” explained Nuttall.
Finding a rhythm was an issue for the Pride, as injuries and an assortment of young players who discovered new roles limited Hofstra in gaining fluidity on the field.
“It was quite a new team,” said Nuttall. “You’ve got to learn to win. Even though we had a lot of winning in the previous years, we had four or five new players come in. We didn’t get into a rhythm with a settled team.”
Gaining a rhythm was also a problem in Cox’s eye, but for different reasons. With a roster featuring multiple versatile players, finding roles for everyone was difficult.
“We didn’t really find a system to play until it was too late. We weren’t secure in all our positions. It wasn’t until the end where we found what was best for us,” expressed Cox. “We’ve got a lot of players who can play too many positions. We don’t know where to put everyone.”
Even in a season which ended with frowns rather than smiles, the year was also filled with some highlights. For Nuttall, one highlight was the “actual spending time with [the team] and working toward a common goal.”
Even though the Pride failed to leave with a playoff berth, they remained competitive throughout the year, even in losses.
“They’ve all worked hard and they’ve given everything most games. I don’t think there have been many games when we haven’t gone out there and battled and tried our best,” said Nuttall.
They did in fact find themselves in many close games, even in losing efforts. The Pride lost 1-0 five times in 2007.
Another highlight was the introduction of freshman forward Johannes Grahn, who led the team in scoring with 10 goals and 20 points. Joined with freshman forward John Alberda, who scored the game-winning goal in a 4-3 overtime victory against San Diego back on Sept. 14, the Pride have a lot to look forward to in years to come.
Even for Nuttall, it is not too early to start looking toward next season.
“I’m already thinking about [next year] now,” said Nuttall, as he walked off the field Thursday.