On Saturday, Oct. 20, the Hofstra men’s soccer team took a close victory on the road, defeating the Elon Phoenix by a score of 2-1. The win was their fourth in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play, bringing their conference record to 4-2-1.

The Pride’s two goals both came in the second half, soon after the first goal of the game was scored off a penalty kick from Elon’s Amir Berkane. Hofstra freshman Lennart Seufert scored his first goal in his time with the team to tie the game up in the 63rd minute of the match.

Hofstra’s winning goal came from junior Luke Brown with 13 minutes remaining. The goal was assisted by junior Etienne Botty on a header that sailed past the Elon keeper and into Brown’s possession.

The story of the game was the stifling of Elon’s aggressive offense by the Pride’s stout defense. The Phoenix took 12 shots in the game, many of which were the result of their seven corner kicks, but Hofstra’s excellent defensive efforts limited them to just one shot on goal, which went in. The Pride, meanwhile, took four shots on goal in the contest with seven shots total.

The game was one of the more aggressive of the season for the Pride, as both teams finished Saturday night having accumulated a large number of fouls. Elon had 16 fouls in the game, while Hofstra ended up with 14. Due to only having one shot taken on his goal, Hofstra keeper Leonard Arkhanhelskyi did not make a save for the whole night; Elon’s keeper, Matthew Jeiger, had two.

Hofstra’s next game will see them on the road once again, this time traveling to Providence, Rhode Island to take on the Brown Bears of Brown University in a non-conference game on Tuesday, Oct. 23. Following that game, the team will play their final CAA contest at home against the College of Charleston, before finishing the regular season at Columbia University. The CAA playoffs are set to begin on Saturday, Nov. 3.

Photo Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics