By Andrew Scharff
St. Patrick’s Day came a little early this year for the Hofstra men’s soccer team.
Lewis Irish recorded his first collegiate points with a goal and an assist as the Pride came back to beat Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) 2-1 Sunday afternoon at Hofstra Soccer Stadium.
“Lewis is up there with Michael [Todd] as a finisher, he’s just been unlucky because we haven’t been able to play him much,” Hofstra head coach Richard Nuttall said.
Irish is a freshman reserve forward that does not usually see much time on the field because he backs up first team all-CAA senior forward Michael Todd. But in the 55th minute, Todd went down with a minor ankle sprain. Todd tried to play through the injury but could not, which opened up opportunities for Irish.
“Michael Todd is a great player and it’s hard to replace someone of his stature, but I had the confidence when I got put into the game,” Irish said.
Whenever Irish touched the ball the Pride had a chance to go to goal. That was something the Pride had trouble doing in the first half and looked to correct in the second, as VCU had kept Hofstra from moving forward.
“At halftime we focused on converting possessions and attacking the goal,” Pride assistant coach Brian Suskiewicz said.
Whatever they did worked, as the Pride was able to create chances for themselves and move the ball deep in to the VCU zone, which ultimately led to Irish’s first collegiate goal.
Five minutes into the second half, VCU midfielder Thomas Weingartner was whistled for a hand-ball in the box and Hofstra was issued a penalty kick. Irish took the penalty kick and sent it to the bottom right corner of the net, just out of the reach of the outstretched arms of VCU goalie Andrew Dykstra (three saves) to tie the game at 1.
“I changed my mind at the last second because I saw the keeper move. Then I just put the ball into the very corner of the net,” Irish said.
Ten minutes later, Irish set up the game-winning goal. Irish was controlling the ball around the left-side of midfield, when he spotted senior forward Arman Osooli behind his defender. Irish sent Osooli in alone with a perfect through ball, and once Osooli controlled the ball he dribbled around a charging Dykstra and hammered it in for his first goal of the season.
“Lewis got the ball in the middle of the field. I saw [Irish] turn and [Irish] saw that my defender wasn’t looking at me,” Osooli said. “He played me a perfect through ball. Then the keeper came out, I dribbled around him and put it away.”
VCU (4-11, 2-6 CAA) scored the first goal of the game as Fred Owusu-Sekyere put home a rebound off a shot from Branco Calizaya. Hofstra keeper James Winters made the original save on Calizaya’s shot, but there was nothing he could do on the rebound.
That was really the only blemish on Winters’ record, as he continues his superb play in place of injured starter Tom Johansen. Winters is now 4-1 as a starter, with his only loss coming against UNC-Wilmington on a penalty kick.
“James continues to do everything he has to do,” Nuttall said.
This win was just what Hofstra (8-4-2, 5-2-1) needed. Coupled with a 1-0 win last Friday night against No. 23 James Madison, the Pride have all but played themselves into the CAA tournament. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Hofstra is probably looking at a No. 3 or 4 seed. The Pride is currently tied for third with Old Dominion with three games remaining.
The Pride owns the tiebreakers over Old Dominion and James Madison. The team will hope for wins from ODU (against UNC-Wilmington) and James Madison (over Towson), giving Hofstra an outside chance for a No. 1 or 2 seed which would give the Pride a bye for the first round of the CAA tournament.