By Justin Grant – SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
The Hofstra Pride men’s soccer team headed south to North Carolina to square off against the Duke Blue Devils for the first time in history. The Pride exuberantly looked to continue the Devil’s winless skid at seven.
However, Duke tied the Pride late in the second half to eventually seal the deal towards the end of double-overtime by a final count of 3-2.
The Devils demolished the Pride in shots by a count of 25-11, despite only a 3-2 victory.
The opening goal of the game was scored off a rebound at the 54:20 mark by sophomore Danny Elliott, which gave Hofstra a 1-0 lead late into the game. Few minutes later, senior Marius Flateboe added to the lead with a momentous goal, notching his second goal of the season.
Sophomore Danny Elliott and senior Marius Flateboe were the leaders for the Pride given the 3-2 heartbreaking loss.
Nearing the end of the second half, the Devils snatched away the Pride’s shutout with senior Zach Mathers’ goal at the 68:10 mark to acquire his third goal of the season.
The Blue Devils continued to pound the Pride late within the last five minutes of the game, scoring the second goal from junior Brody Huitema, his second goal of the season.
Finally, sophomore Brian White snapped Duke’s horrendous season with an incredible goal at the far post to lead Duke to victory against the 14th ranked Pride with the game about to end in a tie, according to NCAA’s most recent RPI rankings.
Senior Zach Mathers led the Devils with six shots, three of them being on goal and one assist followed by sophomore Brian White with five shots, three of them being on goal.
The Pride goalie, senior Patric Pray, came up with eight saves, but gave up three goals in a row in the heartbreaking loss.
As for the Duke goalie, graduate Mitch Kupstas, he came up with four saves and giving up two goals in the comeback by his teammates in front of his fans.
The Pride (8-3) will next faceoff against their CAA opponent, University of Delaware (3-5-2) on their home turf on Oct. 10.
