Fifth-year players pushing towards long awaited championship run

Hofstra men’s soccer has had an unparalleled season this year, with their best season record since 2015. After Saturday’s game, they are 14-1-2 overall, clinching the top seed spot in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championship hosted by Hofstra with the semifinals on Thursday, Nov. 11. The key to their overwhelming success this season was the camaraderie and connection between the team, particularly the fifth-year players ­­­– Matthew Vowinkel, Storm Strongin, Jack Nuttall and George O’Malley. These star fifth-year players have helped the Pride remain victorious in their regular season and they look to continue that energy in the CAA playoffs.

Last year, the COVID-19 outbreak disrupted and postponed the Hofstra men’s soccer season, pushing it back to the spring of 2021. That setback caused the NCAA to extend eligibility by a year, providing extra time to seniors like Vowinkel, Strongin, O’Malley and Nuttall. Getting to play for a fifth-year gave the senior and graduate players the opportunity to pursue larger academic aspirations, more years playing with their close-knit team and an extra shot at the CAA Championship.

Graduate student, Strongin had never considered a master’s at this point in his life, but he believes COVID-19 gave him the ability to play for an extra season. “As soon as we got the opportunity to, I wanted to stay of course,” Strongin said. He will be graduating in December with his master of science in business analytics.

Growing up on Long Island, Strongin knew he wanted to go to Hofstra, as his father and grandfather are alumni. Attending Hofstra was perfect for him, especially because he “wanted to be able to drive home in one day, so I don’t have to buy a plane ticket. Hofstra was always one school that I had in mind,” Strongin said.

Captain George O’Malley came to Hofstra from England, where he started playing soccer around three or four years old. His father encouraged him to play because “he played football his whole life, so it's kind of in the family.”

O’Malley’s reason for staying an extra year is solely reliant on his relationship with the team.

“Literally, the only reason I stayed was because I love all the guys here,” O’Malley said. “I don't think there's many other factors that came into my mind, it was just okay, I’ve got an opportunity to stay with the team, with the coaches, and I'm going to take it.”

In December he will graduate with an undergraduate degree in business management after his five years at Hofstra.

Looking back on their extended time playing for Hofstra’s men’s soccer team, all the soon-to-be graduates raved about their experiences playing alongside such great friends and athletes, led by the incredible coaching staff including head coach Richard Nuttall and assistant coach Stephen Roche.

“The best way to describe it is perfect. You're playing the sport you love at a very, very high level, you’re meeting people from all over the world,” said Jack Nuttall, coach Nuttall’s son. “I say now that I've graduated, I can go anywhere in the world and basically have a free place to stay, just because of the amount of people we get from all different continents.”

His father’s role coaching at Hofstra before he was even born led Jack Nuttall to dream of playing for the team. His experience has been a dream come true, “I consider myself lucky to have these five years because I wouldn't have changed it for the world.”

O’Malley also summarized his time at Hofstra as a dream come true. “If I had another five years, I would stay another five years,” he said. 

The dream has only gotten more magical with how well the team is doing this season, which they attribute to the strength in their mindset going into each game, no matter the significance of regular season plays or a CAA championship.

The team takes the season one game at a time by focusing “on one game, then that one’s gone and in the past, regardless of the result, and then we move on to the next one,” Strongin said.

“In the past, we may have been changing our game plan because the teams are better, but right now we're the team to beat,” Jack Nuttall said. “They got to beat us and our game plan so they're adjusting more than us and we're just keeping focused on doing that schedule.”

Forward Matthew Vowinkel describes the team’s mindset this season when he said, “Every game is a game, it’s not life or death.”

Vowinkel, who is also from Long Island, has played soccer since he was four years old. He tried all possible sports at a young age, but this was the one that he found a passion in.

“I'm happy to be there on the field, because some people aren't as fortunate as us to be on the field with our family, and continue to play every day,” Vowinkel said. “So for me just a couple of deep breaths and realizing what I have [is important].”

Regardless of the significance of each game, the Pride’s consistent mindset this season has prepared them well for the upcoming CAA Championship. 

The COVID-19 extension on NCAA eligibility has given the team and its fifth-year players an opportunity for redemption: for the past three years, Hofstra men’s soccer has been incredibly close to winning the CAA Championship, but victory has remained just out of reach.

“Now with COVID and everything, we thought that was going to be it and a really bad way to end, but we have a little extra time, and we get to come back for a fifth-year, so super thankful for that,” Strongin said.  

Going into Thursday afternoon’s game, the team feels the most prepared they ever have with everything they have gone through in the past. The history they have with the CAA Championship game, particularly against James Madison University has pinnacled with the announcement JMU  will be leaving the CAA conference. 

“For me, my greatest accomplishment hasn’t happened yet, and I’m sure it will happen this season for a CAA Championship,” Vowinkel said. “We’ve been doing really well this season, you know we’ve made history, if not already or we will be making history with the type of record we have. The biggest accomplishment is that CAA Championship and I know it’s coming.”

Photo Courtesy of Alexis Friedman/The Hofstra Chronicle