By Jean Pierre Guzhnay and Jeffrey Werner - STAFF WRITERS
The Hofstra Pride finished the 2014 regular season with a 1-0 victory over the College of Charleston Cougars on Saturday and 0-0 in double overtime against the Northeastern Huskies on Wednesday.
Wednesday’s draw secured a spot for Hofstra in the Colonial Athletic Association tournament, putting the Pride on the postseason map. Later, the win against Charleston secured the third seed in the CAA tournament as well as home field advantage in the first round against James Madison University.
Maid Memic finished his regular season career as one of only five Pride players to score at least 30 goals in their college career. Memic his 30th and final regular season goal against Charleston and it came in great fashion to provide the win and as the last regular season highlight in Memic’s Colligate career.
“Memic certainly has come a long way since his first year,” said head coach Richard Nuttall. “He struggled his first and with a little hard work, he was able to become a two-year starter and captain. He is a great guy, both on and off the field, and I am just so proud of him.”
Hofstra finished in third place in the CAA tournament with 16 points on the season. The team improved to a 5-2-1 record in conference play, ending the regular season with a 10-5-3 overall record.
The Pride looked to bounce back going into Wednesday’s match against the Huskies after the 2-0 loss against University of North Carolina Wilmington.
The Pride recorded 24 shots on the night against the Huskies. Head coach Richard Nuttall was disappointed with the draw. Yet the coach praised the team’s performance after the Pride created some vital goal-scoring opportunities.
“The good news is we’ve created chances,” said Nuttall after the game. “I think we had 10 glorious chances to score. It’s a game of chances we didn’t take and we tied 0-0. It’s very disappointing but I’m extremely pleased the way we team played, I thought we were outstanding today.”
Northeastern University’s goalkeeper Dylan Faber denied the Pride from breaking the deadlock with a fantastic performance. The junior, from Anchorage, Alaska, managed to pull out 10 great saves to record a well-deserved clean sheet.
Coach Nuttall also reflected on the Northeastern goalkeeper’s performance saying, “He might look back at this game and call it a career day.” Nuttall described two of the keeper’s saves as “almost world class.”
The Pride couldn’t take advantage after creating key opportunities with 10 shots on goal throughout the game.
The match started out with the Huskies pressuring the Pride, leaving very little space for attack. Northeastern’s Frantzdy Pierrot and Brad Fountain created most of the danger for the Pride’s defense. Both freshmen registered a combined three shots out of the four in total for Northeastern in the first half.
One of Fountain’s shots looked to reach the net after the ball beat Pride goalkeeper, Patrick Pray, but Rory Murphy from the Pride pulled off a fantastic defensive play sweeping the ball away from the net in the 38th minute, ensuring both teams go to the second half scoreless.
Hofstra had four shots on goal in the first half but couldn’t get any by Faber, sending the game scoreless into the second half.
Danny Elliot’s shot in the 7th minute was the first missed opportunity. The freshman was only a few yards out from the goal but couldn’t maintain control of the ball when it was passed to him and Elliot shot wide left of the net.
The sophomore from London, Joseph Holland, also had an excellent scoring opportunity, but he missed an open shot wide left on the 12th minute in the first half.
Hofstra continued their aggressive play in the second half, with three shots on goal but none were able to get by Dylan Faber.
One play came 61st minute when senior forward Maid Memic and midfielder Joseph Holland created a chance to score for Elliot Firth, after playing a brilliant one-two, but the senior wasn’t able to capitalize the open shot, ultimately landing in Faber’s hands.
The Huskies played conservatively by the end of the second half, looking to send the game to overtime. Prior to the game, the Huskies were 4-0 in matches that went to overtime.
Hofstra continued to create scoring opportunities in the first five minutes of overtime with Danny Elliot having a fantastic opportunity after dribbling past Huskie defenders and cutting in, but unfortunately a Huskies defender blocked his potential game-winning shot.
In the last period of regulation, Memic and Holland both made shots, but both failed to give the Pride the double overtime victory. Hofstra fans were rallying up the team in a frustrating night after watching the Pride miss so many opportunities.
The match was at its climax with one minute remaining. Fans, players and even coach Nuttall were screaming, hoping for the Pride to finally break the deadlock. That moment came very close in the dying seconds with a series of multiple shots inside the Huskies’ penalty box. All the players, coaches and fans in the stadium were on edge, awaiting the referee’s call.
Hofstra wasn’t able to make the necessary shot to take the game and Northeastern was relieved to end at a draw in double overtime.
Despite the draw clinching a spot in the CAA tournament, the Pride dropped down to the middle of the pack. Hofstra’s last match of the season against Charlton on Saturday determined which seed the Pride got in the tournament.
Prior to the game against College of Charleston, the Hofstra honored their seniors on Senior Night during the pregame ceremony. Team captain and senior forward Maid Memic held the lime light. Memic walked towards the center of the field to the applause of Hofstra fans while his sister accompanied Memic in the middle of the ceremony. Memic’s sister traveled from Norway to join her brother for his last regular season game in a Pride uniform. The team honored Memic by framing his jersey for his four years with the Pride and impressive career.
Memic led the Pride on the offensive front, scoring nine goals in 2014 going into the match and 19 combined goals since 2013. He’s compiled 29 career goals in his college career and was one goal away from reaching Pride history making the 30 goal mark.
The weather was a major factor going into the game as the rain poured throughout the entire day at the Hofstra Soccer Stadium. The Charleston Cougars struggled to do well this year, going into the match 0-5-2 in CAA play and 2-10-3 overall this year. The College of Charleston hadn’t won a match since Sept. 7.
This was a must-win on paper for the Pride to gain home field advantage and put themselves in a better position in the postseason.
The first half had little action, as both teams struggled to maintain possession in their opponent’s half of the field. Hofstra also created opportunities for themselves, shooting four times on goal and outshooting the Cougars 13-2 in the first half.
Hofstra was able to capitalize on Memic’s shot to claim a 1-0 lead. Freshmen midfielder Mani Walcott crossed the ball to an open Memic and Memic shot the ball into the back of the net. This goal was Memic’s 10th of the season, and reached 30th goal mark in his colligate career.
The Cougars had an opportunity to score in the first half, but junior goalkeeper Patrick Pray defended the net, making the single save on the night. The Pride defense helped keep Pray from having to make any more saves throughout the game.
Pray and the Pride defenses were able to keep the Cougars off the scoreboard through all 90 minutes. Pray was awarded his seventh shutout of the season.
Hofstra will take on the JMU Dukes in the quarter rounds this Saturday at 7:00 p.m. at the Hofstra Soccer Stadium.