Coming off an appearance in the conference final last season, the Hofstra Pride men’s soccer team will enter the 2019 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) tournament as the No. 3 seed, beginning their playoff run on Friday, Nov. 8, against the No. 6 seed, the University of Delaware at Sentara Park in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The tournament will conclude with the championship game on Saturday, Nov. 16, at the home field of the highest remaining seed.
After losing seven seniors and standout starters in Sean Nealis and Luke Brown, among others, the Pride tallied an overall record of 8-6-2 and 5-2-1 in the CAA this regular season with one non-conference match left to play against Columbia University on Tuesday, Nov. 5.
“[The regular season] went well. It could have been a little bit better … but [we’re] definitely running into the tournament with a good step going forward and good momentum with the past three or four games,” said junior forward Matthew Vowinkel, the team’s leading goal scorer on the season.
On Friday, the Pride will face Delaware in the first round of the CAA tournament. Barely edging their way into the playoffs, Delaware posted a CAA record of 2-4-2, led by sophomore defender Timo Hummrich with six goals, four of which came from penalty kicks.
UNC-Wilmington (UNCW) and James Madison University (JMU) earned the No. 1 and 2 seeds respectively, with each receiving a first-round bye in the tournament.
UNCW enters the playoffs on an eight-match winning streak, going unbeaten in CAA play and claiming the regular season conference championship. No. 2 JMU posted a 5-2-1 record in the CAA and currently sits at No. 21 nationally in the United Soccer Coaches poll. Manuel Ferriol leads the JMU Dukes as one of the top offensive players in the country, scoring 15 goals and earning 34 points in 18 matches.
“You can’t look past JMU, who beat the No. 1 team in the country,” said Hofstra head coach Richard Nuttall, who is looking for his 5th CAA title in 31 years at the helm. JMU defeated No. 1-ranked Wake Forest University, 1-0, on Sept. 17.
The No. 4 seed belongs to the College of William & Mary, followed by Northeastern University at No. 5.
The William & Mary Tribe are no strangers to the finals, reaching the conference championship match in three of the last four years. The Tribe’s freshman goalkeeper Kieran Baskett also leads the CAA with 62 saves.
Coming in at No. 5, Northeastern University will enter the playoffs for the fourth time in seven years, posting a CAA record of 3-3-2 this season.
While seeds determine opponents, they matter little once the matches begin.
“Anybody can beat anybody,” Nuttall said. “If you look historically there’s some lower seeds who won the tournament, which shows the quality [of the conference].”
“We’ve won it as a sixth seed once and a seventh seed once. JMU a couple of years ago won it as a fifth or sixth seed. So anyone can win it; it shows the quality of the CAA from top to bottom,” he added.
The Pride will enter the tournament led by Vowinkel with 12 goals, including two hat tricks from Hofstra’s 5-0 victory over Delaware on Sunday, Oct. 26, and 3-0 win over Northeastern on Saturday, Nov. 2. The hat tricks mark the first ones for the program since 2005.
Classmates Storm Strongin and Petter Soelberg are also players to watch for, with Strongin earning 11 points and Soelberg 10 this season, along with graduate goalkeeper Alex Ashton who recorded five shutouts in the regular season.
However, Nuttall hopes the entire team can step up in the playoffs.
“You hope you’ve got great players and in one particular game you don’t care who steps up. You just hope that somebody does step up,” Nuttall said. “I think it’s more of working as a team and then one or two or three individuals have a good day and help the collective [unit] out.”
Last year, the Pride fell to JMU in the championship match in penalty kicks after tying 1-1 at the end of overtime. This year, they’re using the negative memory as a reason to train harder.
“Now we know what we’re up against and what we have to do in order to get there. Especially the older guys who are here,” Vowinkel said. “The experience [of making it to the final last year] is definitely a step in the right direction.”
The team aspect of soccer is essential; heading into playoffs Nuttall understands that’s what could make or break the Pride’s championship run.
“Our biggest strength is our collective one. When we’re energetic we can wear teams down with our energy and our persistence,” Nuttall said. “And I think, if you look, that’s probably our weakness. If we aren’t energized and we aren’t persistent, then we struggle in games.”
The Pride will hope to stay energetic on Friday, Nov. 8, as they take on Delaware in the first round of the 2019 CAA Tournament. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
Images courtesy of Hofstra Athletics and Anthony Roberts
