The Hofstra men’s soccer team won their sixth straight match on Saturday, Oct. 2. The Pride beat the University of Delaware Blue Hens 4-1 at Grant Stadium in Newark, D.E. 

With this win, Hofstra is now 9-1-0 overall, while they move to 3-1-0 in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play. Delaware is now 1-7-1, with a CAA record of 0-4-0. In the all-time series, the Pride are 22-12-2 overall and are 8-0-1 in the last nine matches with the Blue Hens. 

This win also made history for Hofstra’s men’s soccer program, as this is their best-ever record through the first ten matches of the season. The previous high was set in 1996 when the Pride went 8-1-1 in their first ten games.

Hofstra scored first at the 31:07 mark of the first half, when Ryan Carmichael headed a pass from Matthew Vowinkel into the back of the net. The Pride kept that lead going into the second half, and they didn’t take long to score their second goal. Carmichael got a cross from Hendrik Hebbeker and put it in at the 47:25 mark to get the brace.

A penalty kick at the 51:37 mark by Storm Strongin extended the Pride’s lead to 3-0. Delaware got a lifeline from Josh Hesson, who scored at the 65:24 mark, but that was the only goal that the Blue Hens could muster, as Hebbeker sealed the deal with a goal of his own on a free kick from 18 yards out at 76:04.

The Pride’s six-match winning streak is the longest such for the program since the 1993 season in which Hofstra won 11 consecutive matches. 

Carmichael and Hebbeker are both red-hot right now. The two goals scored by Carmichael were his fifth and sixth goals in the last three games, and Hebbeker has seven points over his last three matches. 

This win also moved Hofstra head coach Richard Nuttall closer to another milestone, with this win being the 299th of his career. 

The Pride won’t get much rest ahead of their next game, as they will return home on Tuesday, Oct. 5, to host the Columbia University Lions at Hofstra Soccer Stadium, with the match beginning at 7 p.m.

Photo courtesy of Alexis Friedman/The Hofstra Chronicle