By Anders Jorstad – STAFF WRITER The Pride rebounded from a 1-0 loss to No. 21 American University, their first loss of the season, with a strong 2-1 win over George Mason to close out the Capitol Cup.
The first half was a terrific defensive showing for both Hofstra and George Mason as neither team let up a goal during that period.
Hofstra controlled the offensive rhythm in that half, taking eight shots compared to just three for the Patriots.
The Pride, however, struggled with accuracy on their shot attempts in the first half as only one of them was saved by Patriots’ keeper Michael Butts.
Hofstra finally got a score on the board when a deflected save off a shot from Joseph Holland allowed Meshack Eshun Addy a free lane for a goal at the 54-minute mark, his third on the season.
Hofstra would remain in the lead until the 77-minute mark of the match when a throw-in by Brice Colcombe led to an easy goal from Cullen Hunter for his second score on the year.
Just before the game looked to be heading into overtime, a beautiful cross off the feet of Addy gave a clean shot to Marius Flateboe in the 85th minute. He nailed the ball into the top left corner of the net for his first goal of the season.
The Patriots took two final shots in the final minutes of the game off a header by Hunter and an attempt by Henning Dirks with just a minute left. Both shots went just high of the goal and Hofstra would take the game by a final score of 2-1.
The win over George Mason moves the Pride to 5-1 on the season while the Patriots fall to 2-4 on the year.
Hofstra opens up its conference schedule against the UNCW Seahawks on Saturday, where the Pride will get to test their brilliant start to the season against important competition.