By Max Sass, Sports Editor
The Hofstra men's soccer team clinched a bid in the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament by defeating James Madison 2-0 in Harrisonburg, VA. Freshman defender Shaun Foster and junior forward Brett Carrington scored the goals for the Pride who will now face Virginia Commonwealth in the CAA semifinals.
Foster scored in the tenth minute of a game that was a must-win for the Pride.
Last season the Pride lost to James Madison 6-2 in a game that eventually turned out to keep the Pride out of the CAA Tournament. Had the Pride lost this year, it would have been on the outside of the four – team tournament yet again.
"To be honest, I don't think we played particularly well," Hofstra head coach Richard Nuttall said, "but we battle beyond belief and I've got to give the boys a lot of credit."
The Pride is currently on a six game unbeaten streak after starting the season 3-6-3. The Pride are the no. 3 seed in the tournament and VCU is no. 2. The game against VCU will be the second of the season for the Pride who previously tied VCU 1-1 in Richmond, VA.
"We've got to be careful that we're not chasing shadows and we've got to be organized on the field," Nuttall said of how the team plans to take on VCU.
Nuttall is not worried about the youth of his team, which regularly starts eight freshman and sophomores.
"Those eight kids who are freshman and sophomores have played a lot of games this year, so in college terms, some of them are veterans in terms of games played," Nutall said.
The Pride play the first game of the tournament at 4:30 pm on Friday, Nov. 12. Delaware, the no. 4 seed will face top seed William & Mary at 7:30 in the second game of the night. The winner of each game will face off Sunday afternoon, Nov. 14 at 1 p.m. for the automatic qualification spot in the NCAA Tournament.
Freshman midfielder Lukas Ahman (6) chases down James Madison forward CJ Sapong (18) in the Pride’ 2-0 win in Harrisonburg, VA. (Photo Courtesy The JMU Breeze)