Despite a second-half surge by the visiting Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) Knights, the Hofstra men’s soccer team held them off with a score of 3-2 at home on Tuesday, Sept. 21. It was Hofstra’s third victory in a row.

The Pride came out of the gate flying, dominating the match for the first 15 minutes. Their first goal came in the 17th minute when senior midfielder Hendrik Hebbeker crossed the ball into the box, only for a FDU defender to deflect the cross into the back of his own net, giving the Pride a 1-0 lead early in the game.

Hofstra had a chance to double their tally just two minutes following their opening goal when Knights defender Jordan Alonge was called for a penalty in the box, giving Hofstra a penalty kick. However, Hofstra graduate student Storm Strongin’s penalty shot was denied on a superb stop by Knights’ keeper Spencer King.

The Pride eventually got their second goal, once again set up by a Hebbeker cross, but this time it was knocked in by one of his teammates. Hebbeker laid a perfect cross into the box and it was smashed home by Matthew Vowinkel for his fourth goal of the season. Hofstra would take that 2-0 lead into the half.

Straight out of the second-half break, Hofstra added their third goal of the evening on a beautiful takeaway by Strongin. He made an amazing run up the field before finding junior Stefan Mason in the box, who put home Hofstra’s third goal.

However, it wasn’t smooth sailing to the final whistle for the Pride, as the Knights began to claw back. 55 minutes into the match, the Knights would get on the board on a free kick goal scored by Diego Arribas. 18 minutes later, Arribas added another goal off a penalty, cutting Hofstra’s lead from three to one with just over 17 minutes left in the match. 

However, Hofstra’s defense stepped up to the task, and the final whistle sounded with Hofstra once again victorious.  

“The first 55-60 minutes of the match were fantastic,” said Hofstra head coach Richard Nuttall. “I enjoyed every moment of the first half. We honestly could have gotten three, four, or maybe even five goals in the first half.”

Hofstra moved to an impressive 6-1 record for the season and concluded the first three games of their current homestand with three wins. Hofstra will now begin to prepare to wrap up their homestand with a big Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) matchup against the College of William and Mary on Saturday, Sept. 25, at 1 p.m. at the Hofstra Soccer Stadium.

Photo courtesy of Evan Bernstein/The Hofstra Chronicle