By By Dave Diamond
47 SECONDS OF FAME
In a touching moment on Friday, Pride head coach Richard Nuttall replaced junior Constantinos Christoudias with 47 seconds remaining on Senior Night with senior Alex Kornprobst. The defender/midfielder from Erlangen, Germany suffered horrible knee injuries, which sidetracked his career at the University, and only played six seconds this season. Nuttall wanted to reward Kornprobst for his hard work and dedication to the team by getting him in the game, and Northeastern head coach Brian Ainscough was permissive with a questionable injury substitution for Christoudias.
“As a person, he’s magnificent. He’s acquitted himself well even though he’s been injured for 20 months,” Nuttall said. “We’re going to wish him well in whatever he does in life.”
When Kornprobst was introduced as a substitution, he entered to a standing ovation from his teammates and coaching staff, who were appreciative of a teammate struck by bad luck.
“I just think that’s just a reflection of what type of person he is, you saw the warmth that the team gave him just to come on the field for the final 40 seconds,” Nuttall said. “I’ll never forget that moment.”
Kornprobst is a two-time recipient of the CAA Commissioner’s Academic Award.
IMPORTANT GOAL
Senior forward Michael Todd had quite a season, and is planning to return next season with his extra year of eligibility. Todd led the team in goals (10) and points (26). He also won two CAA Player of the Week awards and has climbed Pride record books most of the year. However, Todd has also scored a big goal in his studies, as he was named to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District I team on Thursday.
Todd is now eligible for Academic All-America honors, which will be announced later this month.
More important to the Pride’s playoff plans, Todd said that while his injured hamstring is not at full strength, it is good enough to play the powerful game he brings to the table.
“Not quite 100 percent,” he said. “More like 85-90 percent, but I hope to be there soon.”