The Hofstra University men’s soccer team will begin their quest for a fourth consecutive conference championship when they face the College of Charleston in the first round of the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Men’s Soccer Championship at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 7. The match will be held at Elon University, who will host the winner on Sunday.
The Pride, led by head coach Richard Nuttall, enters the tournament as the fourth seed following a 5-3 record in conference play in the regular season. This is their 13th consecutive trip to the CAA Championship and they hope to become the first men’s soccer team in conference history to win the title four years in a row.
To achieve that, the team will need to win three consecutive games, starting with their clash against Charleston this week. One of Hofstra’s losses in the regular season was against the Cougars on Oct. 26. Leading scorer Jacob Woznicki got on the scoresheet for the Pride but a dominant first half display was enough to seal the victory for Charleston as Leonardo D’Ambrosio, Ryan Watson and Adil Iggoute each scored a goal for the Cougars.
Charleston, led by head coach Keith Wiggans, finished the regular season with a 4-2-2 conference record. The Cougars fell to Drexel University, 5-1, in their regular season finale, missing an opportunity for a top-two seed and a first round bye. They had already clinched a playoff spot one match before in their 3-1 win over Hofstra, who clinched their own berth after defeating the University of Delaware 4-0 in their regular season finale.
Scoring duo Woznicki and midfielder Laurie Goddard combined for 37 points in the regular season. The Pride has been without freshman forward Lennon Gill since he sustained an apparent knee injury on Oct. 15. Gill recovered from a 22-month-long ACL injury which required two surgeries, accumulating nine points in seven starts before his latest setback.
D’Ambrosio, a senior originally from Turin, Italy, leads Charleston with nine goals and seven assists in 17 appearances. He is second in the CAA with 23 shots on goal, leading Goddard by one, however, Goddard leads the conference shot attempts with 46 in 14 appearances, averaging 3.29 shots per game.
As their most recent head-to-head clash demonstrated, Hofstra being able to protect their own net is just as crucial as their scoring abilities. Pride goalkeeper Filippo Dadone is tied for 11th in the country with seven shutouts. He made five saves against Charleston the last time the teams clashed. Cougars’ goalkeeper Olly Marshall, who matched Dadone’s save tally in that game, leads the CAA with 66 saves in 17 appearances, averaging 3.88 saves per game.
Hofstra leads Charleston 5-2-3 all-time, though this will be their first postseason meeting. Regardless of their regular season record, the Pride has been tough to beat in the playoffs in recent years. They’re 20-7-6 all-time in the tournament, 11 of those wins arriving in their last 14 appearances.
The winner of this clash will advance to the CAA semi-finals to face top-seeded Elon on Sunday, Nov. 10 at 2 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Ethan Albin
