A lightning delay did not deter the Hofstra men’s soccer team’s quest for another win on Tuesday, Sept. 28. The Pride beat the Hawks of Saint Joseph’s University 2-1 at Sweeney Field in Philadelphia.

With this victory, the Pride is now 8-1-0 on the season, while the Hawks dropped down to 3-7. That 8-1-0 record matches the 1996 team’s nine-game record for the Pride. Hofstra is now 4-10-3 all time against Saint Joseph’s.

Hofstra has won its last five matches, making it the longest winning streak for the Pride since 2014, when they also won five games.

The Pride began the scoring at the 5:21 mark. Ryan Carmichael, coming off a performance where he scored a hat trick against the College of William & Mary, scored on a touch from a long cross by Roc Carles. This was Carmichael’s fourth goal in the last two matches.  

Shortly after the first goal, a long and heavy rainstorm struck the Philadelphia area. This caused a weather delay that lasted nearly two hours. 

Once the weather was cleared, the Pride and the Hawks restarted the match. Saint Joseph’s tied the score with James Fletcher scoring on a rebound after the ball was headed by a Hofstra defender to Wessel Speel, the Pride’s goalkeeper.

It didn’t take long for the Pride to take back the lead coming out of halftime. After a foul was called on Saint Joseph’s, Hofstra got a free kick, which was sent into the box, headed in by Matthew Vowinkel and eventually put into the back of the net by Australian freshman Mason Tatafu. This proved to be the game winning goal. Vowinkel’s assist was his 75th career point at Hofstra.  

In terms of shots, Hofstra led the way with a 12-8 advantage, with eight of their 12 shots on goal.  

Speel made four saves on the eight shots that the Hawks took, compared to the six saves made by Saint Joseph’s goalkeeper Lars Haavie.

The lightning delay did not prevent the Pride from getting men’s soccer head coach, Richard Nuttall, his 298th career win.

Hofstra returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 2, in Newark, Delaware. The Pride takes on the University of Delaware at Grant Stadium at 8 p.m.