By Alex Hyman (Staff Writer)
Junior Chris Griebsch stepped up to the ball with a chance to put the Pride into the semifinals of the Colonial Athletic Association tournament as he took the fifth and final shot of a penalty shootout against the George Mason Patriots on Monday.
Griebsch did not waste any time as he quickly deposited a low shot into the right side of the net to give the Pride a 0-0 (5-3 in penalties) win.
“It’s the best feeling ever,” Griebsch said.  “I can’t describe it, I’m so happy, I felt so relieved afterwards.”
Griebsch hit the game winner but it took a team effort to get the win after all of the Pride’s penalty attempts were successful.
Freshman Joseph Holland scored the first goal for the Pride, followed by senior Mike Annarumma, sophomore Maid Memic, and junior Herbert Biste. The Pride won the penalty shootout 5-3.
Fifth-year senior goalkeeper Adam Janowski played a tremendous game in net for the Pride. He made five saves in his fifth shutout of the season.
“I’m happy for Adam, he toiled at this program for five years and never got a chance really and now he is shining so kudos to him,” Hofstra head coach Richard Nuttall said.
Janowski also made a key save against the first Patriot penalty kick taker propelling the Pride to the victory. He made a few key saves including a diving save to his right in the second overtime.
The Pride and Patriots played an even game throughout the scoreless regulation and overtime The Pride outshot the Patriots 21-16 with Griebsch and Annarumma leading the Pride in shots with six and five respectively.
The Pride backline continues led the Pride and helped control possession and control the pace for the Pride.
Junior Shaun Foster, senior Stephan Barea, junior Tyler Botte, and senior AJ Laza did not allow anything behind them and stopped every all of the Patriot attacks.
“From my point of few, Barea was tremendous tonight and AJ was playing with an injured hamstring,” Nuttall said. “Everyone who came off the bench did well tonight too.”
It was the Pride’s final home game of the season, as they will travel to top-seeded Drexel for the next round of the CAA tournament.
For Foster and all of the seniors, it was the last time they played a game at Hofstra Soccer Stadium.
“It is such a good feeling [to send the seniors off], the guys deserve it,” Griebsch said. “They work so hard, they all did a fantastic job today and I’m so glad for them.”