Laurie Goddard sent the Hofstra University men’s soccer team to the third round of the NCAA men’s soccer tournament with an overtime goal to upset No. 1 University of Vermont 3-2 on Sunday, Nov. 23.
It was sweet revenge for the Pride, knocking out the undefeated, defending national champions who eliminated Hofstra from the NCAA tournament last season. Hofstra’s retribution came 364 days after their heartbreaking loss to the Catamounts at Captains Field, returning the favor by eliminating Vermont on their home field.
Daniel Burko earned the assist on Goddard’s nation leading, eighth game-winning goal of the season.
Jan Ziewiec got the play started with two great defensive efforts to steal the ball from Vermont and then kept the play alive long enough to find Goddard in midfield. Goddard sent a through ball past the Vermont backline to Burko on the left wing. Burko dribbled his way into the 18-yard box, found Goddard making a run on the edge of the box and sent a perfectly placed pass that Goddard immediately finished with his left foot, past the Vermont goalkeeper Niklas Herceg.
The Pride trailed after the first half, with Philipp Kühn finding the game’s opening goal in the 13th minute. Omar Robbana sent a corner to the far post, where Marcos Blasco sent a header across the goal for Kühn to head past Gino Cervoni.
After being dominated over the final 35 minutes of the first half, the Pride made key adjustments coming out of the break.
Sean Bohan came in for Cervoni for the third straight match. Pablo Hempelmann-Perez and Evangelos Chrysostomou started the second half after coming off the bench to begin the match. Hempelmann-Perez and Chrysostomou each had a goal contribution on two Hofstra goals within three minutes.
The first goal was started by a chip ball into the box by Chrysostomou, which was tipped off the back of Goddard’s head to Thengill Orrason. Orrason’s header went straight to Hempelmann-Perez, who dove head-first for the equalizer.
Before the Catamounts realized what hit them, the Pride struck again. From nearly the same spot, Chrysostomou sent a pass to Owen Barnett, who flicked a pass into the box. It took a bounce before Ziewic stuck out his right foot to chip Herceg and give Hofstra the 2-1 lead.
Vermont did not go down quietly, clawing away at Hofstra’s defense until they found a late goal to force overtime. Robbana earned his second assist from the corner flag, finding Rui Aoki in the middle of the box. Aoki beat Gabriel Pacheco in the air and whipped a header past Bohan, saving his team’s season for the moment.
With the win, Hofstra improved to 14-5 on the year and will travel to Greenville, South Carolina, to take on Furman University in the third round. The Catamounts finished their season 14-1-5.
Kickoff for the third-round matchup is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 30, at 1 p.m.
