The Hofstra University men’s soccer team scored five unanswered goals to take a dominating 5-1 victory over Fordham University. This win extended their win streak to six games. With the out-of-conference win, the Pride moved to 10-4 on the season while the Rams fell to 7-4-3 on the year.
Hofstra’s offense was overpowering, firing off a total of 29 shots in the game; 19 were recorded as shots on goal. Fordham took 10 shots and just two of them were accurate. Four of the Pride’s goals were scored in the second half.
Laurie Goddard and Daniel Burko, the Pride’s top scorers on the season, each found the back of the net two times in the win. Goddard and Burko have accumulated nine and eight goals, respectively, placing them atop of the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) among goal scorers.
The two-goal day for Burko marks back-to-back matchups where the senior forward found the back of the net twice. Hofstra defender Carter Schmitz tallied the fifth goal of the night for the Pride 86 minutes into gameplay for his first collegiate goal.
The Rams’ goalkeeper, Tristan Stephani, conceded five goals while recording 13 saves. The Pride’s keeper Gino Cervoni allowed one goal and made one save.
The Rams first got on the board in the 35th minute with Bennett Leitner’s third goal of the year. The first shot on goal of the day for the Rams was Cervoni’s only flaw of the match.
The Pride got one back to knot the score at one apiece seven minutes later. A foul on Fordham’s Jon Varela gave the Pride a penalty kick, and Burko made the Rams pay. Burko perfectly placed the ball into the top right corner of the net, beating out Stephani.
Hofstra came out of the gate strong in the second half. After chippy play that warranted a red card to Fordham’s Leitner and a yellow card to Hofstra’s Pietro Santi, the Pride took a 2-1 advantage in the 59th minute. Goddard earned a free kick and chipped the ball over the defense and into the right corner for the go-ahead goal.
The Pride continued to step on the gas in the second half, pouring on the offense. Burko put up his second goal when Goddard arched a pass into the air and Burko headed the ball to the left side of the goal. It deflected off the gloves of Stephani and into the back of the net.
Goddard struck again 19 minutes after his first tally. On a long boot down the field, Goddard beat out the defense and caught Stephani off his line. He kicked the ball over the left arm of the goalkeeper and into the net for the three-goal lead.
In the 86th minute, Schmitz fired off a shot that bounced off Stephani. Schmitz crashed and grabbed the rebound of his own shot, kicking the ball past a diving Stephani and into the right side of the net for the fourth goal of the half.
The Pride looked to extend their win streak to seven Gametime was scheduled for 7 p.m. at Hesse Field.
