Hofstra men’s soccer shutout the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) Retrievers on Sunday, September 1, as they met under the lights of Retriever Soccer Park. The Pride walked away with a 1-0 victory and start the season 2-0 for the first time since their 2015 campaign.
Hofstra began the match attacking strong but were called offsides seven times in the first half, preventing any scoring. However, the Pride’s first major chance at goal came in the 43rd minute with a penalty kick that was shot too high.
The opening 45 minutes ended goalless for both teams, with Hofstra leading in total shots, 5-4.
Coming out of halftime, the Pride scored the lone goal of the match in the 53rd minute off of a corner kick, the sixth one in just eight minutes of play.
Senior midfielder Adam Savil took the kick with Frederik Rieper heading the ball into the back of the net after being deflected off of teammate Stefan Mason.
The Retrievers attempted to answer two minutes later but a shot by Tre Pullman from 14 yards out in the 55th minute went just wide of the far-left post.
Despite UMBC pulling all 11 players forward in the final minute, neither team scored in the remainder of the second half, resulting in a 1-0 win for the Pride.
Alex Ashton played in goal for the Pride recording a perfect shutout with one save, and Retriever keeper Quantrell Jones had two. Ashton’s shutout marks the 16th of his career, tying him for third on the Pride’s all-time list with Greg Cumpstone.
UMBC saw 12 shots on goal in the full 90 minutes led by midfielder Dadi Ingason with three, while Hofstra recorded 11, led by both Matthew Vowinkel and Petter Soelberg each with three as well.
The Pride received one yellow card for future goal-scorer Rieper in the 24th minute, while UMBC saw two yellows for Ryan Becher and Colin Weyant in the 43rd and 90th minutes respectively.
Hofstra will look for vengeance as they head down to Virginia to open conference play at James Madison University in a rematch of last year’s conference championship game on Friday, September 6 at 7 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
