Hofstra men's soccer prepares for 2024 with new faces and high hopes

The Hofstra University men’s soccer team will begin their 2024 campaign on the back of three consecutive Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) titles. They finished 14-3-5 last season and made it to the third round of the NCAA Championship Tournament. They are also coming from one of the busiest off-seasons in recent memory, one that saw the program try to replace over a dozen departures.

“I’m proud of the recruitment battles we won,” said Hofstra head coach Richard Nuttall. “We lost many as well. We’ve got good players coming back into an incredible team.”

A total of 17 new players signed for the Pride this off-season including 7 with previous collegiate experience.

“Every player we bring in is important to us,” Nuttall said. “To say one is more important than the other is difficult; we know some are more talented than the others, but you never know who’s going to shine. I think it’s important we brought some experience in.”

One of the more experienced recruits is Aleksei Armas, a midfielder who previously played over two seasons for Adelphi University. He is the son of Christopher Armas, the current head coach of the Colorado Rapids in Major League Soccer (MLS).

Another transfer is Laurie Goddard, a London native who played two seasons for Merrimack College. Goddard led the team with 10 goals last season and was named to the All-Northeast Conference First Team.

“I’ve done this job for so long,” Nuttall said, entering his 36th season as head coach. “Some years your team sees more players graduate than others. Last year, in particular, many players graduated. It’s a different group in certain ways, but the way we play won’t change much.”

The Pride won the conference title last year largely due to players who have since departed such as Wessel Speel, the all-time leading goalkeeper in shutouts in Hofstra men’s soccer history, who transferred to Duke University for his graduate season. Scoring duo Ryan Carmichael and Eliot Goldthorp began their professional careers via the 2023 MLS SuperDraft. Carmichael was selected by Inter Miami CF, and Goldthorp was picked up by Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

Carmichael and Goldthorp have each been promoted to the senior squads of their respective clubs. Their quick ascent into the top level of American soccer made it a historic moment for the program and the university.

“I think it tells everybody that we’re a stepping-stone to the pros,” Nuttall said. “You can come here, get a magnificent, world-class degree, and possibly, with the guts, determination and great desire, you can possibly prepare yourself for the professional world as well.”

The Pride also has strong returning members on the roster: out of five graduate students, three of them are returning, including midfielder Roc Carles, who enters his third season as a team captain.

“For me, it was really easy to come back,” Carles said. “I’ve always been really happy here; I’ve enjoyed my time a lot. I value my coaches and friends, and I didn’t see any point in trying to go anywhere. I want to get a fifth year here and win a fourth [CAA] ring, which is something that has never been done before.”

Carles previously played alongside senior captains Joe Wright and Stefan Mason. While both players departed last season, they left a profound impact that is still felt by the Catalonian native.

“[Wright and Mason] were always very helpful,” Carles said. “When I came, they were some of the older guys on the team, so they were two people to look up to: two people who are really well-behaved and perform to a really high level. They helped me to adapt to the country, learn the [English] language and learn about different play styles that are pretty normal to them because of our English coaching staff.”

Carles learned from the leaders who came before him and will now get the chance to become the centerpiece of the team. For Carles, it’s not a daunting task.

“It hasn’t felt like a big transition for me,” Carles said. “It’s true, I have to take more responsibility when it comes to organizing on and off the field, but I’m not going to change a lot to how I’ve been in past years because of how it works and it’s how I feel comfortable.”

Another returning player is Teddy Baker, a senior who transferred to Hofstra from Lake Erie College in 2023. Baker scored four goals and provided three assists for the Pride last season, one of his goals coming in the CAA Championship game against Monmouth University.

“That [CAA Championship goal] definitely helped my confidence level,” Baker said. “Towards the end of last year, I started to develop a lot better. Obviously, goals help with your confidence and make you feel better about your performances; You also feel you have more freedom on the ball and everything starts clicking.”

Baker made 22 appearances last season but only started 10 times, mostly sitting behind Carmichael. Baker is the only returning forward this season and will get the chance to lead the attack.

“This year comes with some sort of pressure to try to deliver what [Carmichael and Goldthorp] delivered,” Baker said. “I take pride in that pressure; the fact that I can show the incoming forwards the way we like to play; it’s definitely something I enjoy.”

With all the roster moves both in and out, there was plenty of new blood brought in while some players saw a bump up in their roles. Although it was the program’s busiest off-season in recent years, the objectives and approach remain the same.

“Business as usual,” Nuttall said. “It’s where we’re at; we want to win. We recruited to win and we got players returning who can win. That’s our mindset.”

It’s a change that is felt among both the coaching staff and players, but it isn’t foreign to this program. As is the case on the collegiate and professional levels, the cycle is constantly changing.

After the Pride won its first of three consecutive conference titles in 2021, team captain George O’Malley and high-scoring striker Matthew Vowinkel left the squad. The Pride persevered through this transition and won the conference the next two seasons, something Carles witnessed first-hand.

“It just changes the way we start the season and how we attack problems,” Carles said. “We’re going to need to adapt to more things at the start but the mentalities and the goals don’t change at all. They’re higher because we’ve won more times in a row.”

Given their busy transfer window and recent success, there are high expectations mixed in with the new look. However, it doesn’t shatter the confidence of a team that has continued to climb the ranks nationally. The Pride recently ranked No. 17 in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll for the second time in program history, matching their personal best in 2022.

“We all know what we have to do,” Baker said. “The high expectations are there and the coaches have set them in for us, but we all know deep down that we’re winners. We’re not going to settle for drawing games, we know we can beat everyone that we have on our schedule. We know it’s a hard schedule, but we’re going to go into every game willing to win. We’re not celebrating anything less than that.”

The Pride, who look to achieve a seventh CAA title under Nuttall’s leadership, begin their campaign at home against Fordham University on Thursday, Aug. 22.

Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Alexis Friedman