The Hofstra Pride men’s soccer team opened their Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) tournament journey with a 1-0 win over the College of William & Mary (W&M) Tribe in Wilmington, North Carolina, on Thursday, Nov. 3.
Hofstra and W&M played to a scoreless draw earlier in the season. They were trending towards another defensive battle in this matchup as well, with no goals in regulation time once again. However, both teams had their opportunities to break through with marquee scoring chances. The Pride registered ten shots on target, mostly headers, forcing W&M goalkeeper Danilo Nikcevic to make several acrobatic saves. Nonetheless, the score remained deadlocked at zero through 90 minutes.
After the first period of extra time went scoreless, the Pride adopted a much more aggressive style in the following period. Two minutes into the second half, senior defender Shane Salmon played a long pass from Hofstra’s defensive end that found the foot of Ryan Carmichael, who blasted a shot across his body for the game’s first goal. The hits keep coming for Carmichael, who was recently named the CAA Player of the Year on the back of a ten-goal and three-assist season.
Hofstra then shifted its attention to defense for the remainder of extra time and limited the Tribe from getting any meaningful opportunities inside the 18-yard box, holding them without a shot on goal for the remainder of the contest. Hofstra goalkeeper Wessel Speel completed a three save shutout – his fifth clean sheet of the season.
Hofstra extended its unbeaten streak to five matches with Thursday’s win and hope to carry that late season momentum for the remainder of postseason play. The Pride will make its twelfth CAA semifinal appearance on Sunday, as they’ll face the UNC-Wilmington (UNCW) Seahawks for the second time this season. Hofstra has defeated UNCW on their own field before, traveling to Wilmington and leaving with a 2-1 victory back in October, as Eliot Goldthorp and Francesco Perinelli both netted goals in the Pride’s last time out against the Seahawks.
The winner of Sunday’s semifinal match will move on the compete for the conference title, against either the Drexel University Dragons or the top-seeded Elon University Phoenix.
Photo Courtesy of Joe Browning/ UNCW Athletics
