By Jean Pierre Guzhnay - STAFF WRITER
The Hofstra Pride proceeded to the second round of the NCAA after Daniel Massey scored the decisive header with 54 seconds remaining in the extra period to complete a 2-1 dramatic comeback win over Lehigh in overtime, at the Hofstra Soccer Stadium that endured heavy rain on Thursday evening.
A stunning strike in the 77th minute from Mario Ruiz gave Hofstra the equalizer in regulation time taking the game into overtime, where Massey scored the header to give the Pride the win.
In its fifth-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the Pride came into the game as hosts after winning its fourth CAA Championship following a 2-0 victory against University of Delaware last Sunday.
It was Lehigh that took the lead after Hawkins produced a backline blunder, with Mark Forrest capitalizing in the box, shooting past Pray for the 1-0 lead.
It took Hofstra thirty minutes to settle on the field with the rain giving the host problems in getting accommodated to the weather conditions. Soon after, the Pride held the ball and applied offensive pressure. They were in the driver’s seat for the rest of the game; building the momentum they needed to eventually equalize.
“[Conceding the first goal] was an emotional cue,” head coach Richard Nuttall said during the postgame press conference. “Once you are down, you need to speed the game up and speeding the game changed everything. There was a bit of urgency.”
The equalizer came from junior Mario Ruiz, whose heroics will be marked down in the record books after registering his first career goal, did so with a stunning 25 yard shot with Lehigh’s shot stopper Joe Bogan unable to do anything about it.
“It was my first goal of my Hofstra career. I think I picked a good time to put it in the back of the net,” Ruiz said. “I see my whole team running to me, I look back at the net and I see the ball is in there, so then I just start running to the fans,”
Coach Nuttall praised the Brentwood native on getting his fitness level back up and for establishing himself as a key player once again.
“Mario is an incredibly talented player,” Nuttall said. “We finally got him where we want him to be in terms of his fitness level, and when he is fit, he is tremendous at keeping the ball. He’s gritty; he gets his body in-between the ball and keeps the ball moving. He is just a winner.”
Hofstra had numerous goal scoring chances to lead in regulation time. One of those opportunities came from Joseph Holland, whose goal against Delaware last week was featured number one on SportsCenter’s top 10 plays of the week. With four minutes remaining of the second half, the midfielder from England almost produced another jaw-dropping goal from a free kick, with the ball going just above the goalpost.
But it wasn’t the CAA Player of the Year, Holland or Meshack Eshun Addy who gave the Pride the victory. No, It was freshman Daniel Massey who scored the winning goal coming off the bench, after connecting a cross from Andreas Iosifides from the right side of the field, giving the Pride the victory, and a ticket to the next round of the NCAA Tournament.
“[It was] unreal, especially as a freshman, to come in and scored in over time,” Massey said.
After the game, Nuttall sang praise for the young forward, tipping him to play a key role in the future of the Hofstra soccer program.
“The future in college soccer for Danny is bright as long as we can get him to be fit and sharp,” Nuttall said.
After the game, Nuttall, who was recently awarded 2015 CAA Coach of the Year for leading the Pride to improved 14-7 record, praised the way his team responded after initially being one goal behind.
“I thought we deserved the game in the end of the day, after our work in the second half for putting the pressure on them…We did well in terms of doing what we wanted to do effectively, [which was] getting the ball forward [and getting the ball] in the box and hopefully create problems,” Nuttall said.
The Pride will face Georgetown in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday at 1 PM at Shaw Field in Washington D.C. The last time Hofstra played away was at South Carolina, in a 2-1 loss against Costal Carolina University.