HARRISONBURG, Virginia – Hofstra used a pair of goals late in regulation to earn a spot in the Colonial Athletic Association Men's Soccer Championship by defeating No. 21 UNCW, 2-1, in a semifinal contest at James Madison's Sentara Park on Friday evening.
The win lifted the Pride's record to 10-6-4 while UNCW dropped to 12-5-2 with its second straight loss.
Redshirt junior defender
Danny Reynolds gave UNCW the one-goal advantage with 13:44 remaining in the first half when he blasted a 30-yard free kick into the upper right corner past senior goalkeeper Alex Ashton.
But, Hofstra answered by scoring twice in the final 11 minutes to earn the victory. Senior defender Sean Nealis, the CAA Defensive Player-of-the-Year, tied the game at 1-1 in the 80th minute when he headed in a corner kick for his second goal of the season.
With 4:33 left in regulation, junior forward Luke Brown took advantage of a misplay by redshirt senior goalkeeper
Ryan Cretens to score an unassisted goal into an open net for his sixth marker of the year.
Cretens made four saves for the Seahawks while Ashton tallied two saves for Hofstra.
Up Next: The Seahawks will wait to find out if they receive an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament when the selections are announced on Monday, Nov. 12, at 1 p.m.
