By Chris Vaccaro
Clutch players make great plays at unexpected times. Senior midfielder Pablo Lara epitomizes this as three times this season he’s scored the game winning goal for the Pride’s men’s soccer team.
Most recently, this past Sunday Lara helped the Pride in a 2-1 victory over Towson University at the Hofstra Soccer Stadium, snapping the Tiger’s four-game unbeaten streak.
Needing a win after an important loss to the University of Delaware two days earlier, the Pride (6-8-1, 2-3-1 in CAA) set out to keep playoff hopes alive, and earn a much needed win over the Tigers (8-5-2, 3-3-1 in CAA), who are also fighting for a spot in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) playoffs.
The Tigers scored the lone first-half goal, stifling the Pride’s chances. Forward Sebastian Haensel scored on a 20-yard direct kick, bending around the Pride shield into the lower left side.
With less than 10 seconds remaining, sophomore Constantinos Christoudias managed to get two shots off; one from ten yards, which Tiger’s goalie Zak Thompson saved. The other attempt was played off a header from Tiger defenseman Nigel Marples.
Christoudias was not finished, though, making an impact on the tying goal 7:01 into the second half. Junior Billy Chung gained possession at midfield and landed near the penalty area after jetting down the right wing. On a two-man crossing pattern, Chung passed to junior forward Michael Todd, who directed the rock to Christoudias in the six yard box. Christoudias ended the play with his fourth goal of the season and tied the score at 1.
Lara almost didn’t have the game-winner when sophomore Gerd Schuster sprung loose for a header off a corner kick from 10 yards out, but was stopped when midfielder J.C. Cole cleanly headed the ball from the far post.
The game-winning goal was indirectly caused by Todd being tripped outside the right side of the penalty area. Similar to the only Tiger goal, Lara took a direct kick, bent the ball around the wall, and put it in the upper left corner.
“Pablo has been vital at times,” coach Richard Nuttall said. “He’s good when he plays, and has stepped his game up this season.”
The Pride edged the Tigers, 17-12, in shots and kicks, 7-4. Pride goalie Matthias Gumbrecht and Thompson each had five saves.
Once again the Pride was tested with keeping up a late game mental focus. It had a rough time finishing chances against the Blue Hens, but worked the kinks out and played differently against the Tigers.
“We weren’t finishing,” Nuttall said. “We kept our composure against Towson, kept playing and worked hard in the late stages.”
The playoff picture is a bit complicated, but for the Pride to gain a berth to the final six in the CAA Tournament, the other teams close to them in the standings must lose. Currently, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNCW) holds the sixth spot with ten points and Towson sits in fifth with nine points. Since each win gives a team three points in the standings, a Pride postseason appearance is certainly possible. The Pride is seventh with seven points.
Towson plays UNCW and Virginia Common Wealth University (VCU), and must lose at least one of those games. That would give them 13 points. UNCW must lose two of its remaining games against Towson, Delaware or VCU to finish with 12 points. George Mason University has the slimmest chance, needing to win all three of its games, but will likely only have a chance of beating Drexel University, likely giving them nine points.
For the Pride to make the push, it will need wins in two of the last three games, which is not farfetched because George Mason and Drexel already trail them in the standings. As for the James Madison University game, the Pride can’t afford to lose, but if the other teams perform as predicted, the Pride will finish in a tie with Towson with 13 points, but it will automatically grab the fifth spot because of the advantage with Sunday’s.
“Our next game against George Mason can make or break the season,” Nuttall said. “If we win we can knock them out of playoff contention and keep ourselves alive.”
The Pride plays its next games at home tomorrow at 7 p.m. against George Mason (6-9-1) and Sunday at 2 p.m. against James Madison (13-1-1), which sits in second place in the conference. The Pride plays its last game on Nov. 4 at Drexel University (4-10).
Junior forward Jason Gates tries to shake off a defender in the Pride´s 2-1 loss against University of Delaware Blue Hens. (Staff Photo)