Vowinkel's late goal sends Hofstra past JMU in Top-25 battle

The No. 19 Hofstra men’s soccer team won a nail-biter at home on Saturday, Oct. 23, defeating No. 23 James Madison University Dukes 1-0 at Hofstra Soccer Stadium. This was the first win for the Pride against JMU since Sept. 17, 2016, when Hofstra won 2-0 at home.

With this very important win, the Pride is now 12-1-1 this season and has a record of 4-1-1 in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play. The Dukes drop down to 10-4-1 and 4-2-0 in CAA matches. This victory also put Hofstra atop the CAA standings with 13 points, which is one point ahead of JMU and UNC-Wilmington.

This win against the Dukes also extended Hofstra’s unbeaten streak to 11 games, having not lost since Saturday, Sept. 11. The decision also extended the win streak to three games, and this 1-0 win was the sixth of the season for Hofstra. 

“James Madison [is] an outstanding team, and they’ve got good players all over the field,” said Hofstra head coach Richard Nuttall. “I was pleased with our defending, our one-on-one defending.”

The first 45 minutes finished scoreless, despite Hofstra having 10 shots, four of them on goal. They also had four corner kicks this half. This was compared to the Dukes’ four shots the first half, with one of them on goal, as well as having only one corner kick.

The Pride finally broke through in the second half at the 71:09 mark when Ryan Carmichael whipped in across from the left side into the box, where the ball was headed into the net by Matthew Vowinkel. This was Vowinkel’s seventh goal this season and his third in the last two games. Vowinkel’s goal also moved him to fourth place all-time in the Hofstra men’s soccer program in career points, with 85.

“It was definitely a challenge coming into the game, and I think scoring relieved some pressure off everybody, myself included,” Vowinkel said.

Wessel Speel finished with another strong performance for the Pride, ending with three saves. The closest chance for JMU came from Axel Ahlander, who shot a 20 ft. rifle that Speel was able to stop.

“Wessel [Speel] was rock-solid again, he did what he had to do,” Nuttall said. “It’s nice to know that he’s in goal, and that he’s there, and it gives confidence to the rest of the team.”

Carmichael was not able to score, ending his seven-game goal scoring streak. However, his assist on Vowinkel’s goal extended his points streak to eight straight games, going back to Saturday, Sept. 18.

This game also did have a lot of meaning to it, as this was senior night, and before the game, the Pride honored Vowinkel, Hendrik Hebbeker, Alex Dudley, Jack Nuttall, George O’Malley and Storm Strongin. For Vowinkel, it was all the sweeter that he scored.

“Being here for four or five years now with the team, with Hofstra, with the coaches, it means the world. They’re family to me,” Vowinkel said. “To score is not only scoring for the team, but scoring for everyone that’s at Hofstra.”

The Pride gets some rest before they head down to North Carolina to try to clinch a CAA tournament berth. Hofstra takes on the Elon University Phoenix. The game is on Saturday, Oct. 30, and starts at 1 p.m.

Photo Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics