HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — On Saturday, Nov. 2, the Hofstra men’s soccer team earned a 3-0 victory over the Northeastern University Huskies at the Hofstra Soccer Stadium that secured the Pride’s spot as the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championship.

Matthew Vowinkel was automatic for the Pride, putting in three goals for his second hat trick in the past three games and the second of his career. His first goal came 25 minutes into the game after a long cross from Storm Strongin curled into the box, where Vowinkel capitalized with a header into the bottom corner of the net.

Vowinkel struck again with just 11:24 remaining in the match, when he knocked in a cross from Jason Ramirez that he collected right in front of Northeastern’s goalkeeper, Chandler Cree, before sending it around him. Four minutes later, Shane Salmon drove along the inside line of the box before putting a left-footed pass past Cree and in perfect position for Vowinkel to put in his hat trick-earning third goal.

Over Vowinkel’s last three games, he’s tallied eight total goals. His 12 on the season leads the team, with an eight-goal difference between him and the two players tied for second in the category.

“You talk about confidence,” said Hofstra head coach Richard Nuttall. “When you’ve got [Vowinkel] up there, we know he can score a goal. He breathes confidence through the whole team, knowing that he can finish balls if we do the work and get him the ball.”

Vowinkel led all players with six shots, five of which were on goal. Petter Soelberg took four shots while Adam Savill tallied three and the Pride finished the match with a 17-8 advantage in the category. Strongin’s assist is his fifth this year, surpassing his career-high of four from the 2018 season. The assists were the second and first of the year for Ramirez and Salmon, respectively.

Hofstra’s defense proved formidable against a capable offensive team in Northeastern, limiting the Huskies to just three shots on goal in the game, all of which were saved by goalkeeper Alex Ashton, who had been acknowledged in the pre-match Senior Day presentation. The shutout was the 19th in Ashton’s four years with the Pride, tying him with Patric Pray for third all-time in shutouts on the Pride.

“At halftime, we just said, ‘Look, we need a little more, we need to condense the field a little bit,’ which we did well,” Nuttall said. “I thought the boys were magnificent in the second half in the timing of the drop and the timing of condensing the field, so I think that brought everything together. I’ve got to give George [O’Malley] and [Frederik] Rieper at the back kudos.”

The Pride now holds an 8-6-2 record and finishes with a 5-2-1 record in CAA play. They will conclude their regular season with a non-conference match hosting Columbia University on Tuesday, Nov. 5. Then they will open the CAA Championship with a quarterfinal matchup against sixth seed University of Delaware in Harrisonburg, Virginia on Friday, Nov. 8.Image courtesy of Adam Flash