Quick start for promising Pride

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The Hofstra men’s soccer team kicked off its 2015 season with a bang.

The Pride opened the new campaign with a 2-1 upset win against 15th-ranked Syracuse on Aug. 28, followed by a 4-0 triumph over Vermont two days later.

Hofstra, which is seeking first bid to the NCAA College Cup since 2006, is coming off a 10-6-3 season that ended with a loss to James Madison in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) quarterfinals after finishing tied for first place in the league standings. The Pride, which received votes in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Top 25 poll on Sept. 1, was picked to finish third in the competitive CAA, which consistently receives multiple College Cup bids.

“Our objective is to win the CAA and anything else that comes off that is gravy,” said Pride head coach Richard Nuttall, who led the team to three straight College Cup bids from 2004-06 and enters his 27th year leading the program. “The Syracuse win gave them a lot of confidence in their abilities.”

Leading Hofstra’s charge for its first College Cup in nine years are juniors Joseph Holland and Harri Hawkins, who were both named to the CAA All-Preseason team. Holland led the CAA in assists last year from his midfield position with nine and tallied three goals in Hofstra’s opening two wins. Hawkins anchored a Pride that recorded eight shutouts last year and early in his junior campaign has moved up front to the midfield unit.

The offense lost last year’s leading goal scorer, Maid Memic, to graduation, but Hofstra has multiple weapons capable of striking the net. Hofstra had four goal scorers in its first two games led by Holland, Henry Crayton, Mani Walcott and Meshack Eshun Addy.

“It is nice to have a few go-to guys,” Nuttall said. “We can spread it around.”

Providing some leadership to the backline is senior defender Daniel Grundei, who earned CAA All-Preseason honorable mention status. The Towson transfer was clutch as a junior scoring three goals—all game winners—before suffering a season-ending injury late in the season. The Germany native is helping lead a strong back line that also features Sean Nealis and Jon Frasier.

Senior goalkeeper Patric Pray earned the starting net minder job last season and recorded a 0.95 goals-against-average with a .800 save percentage. The University of Washington transfer recorded five shutouts last season and keyed Hofstra’s season-opening victory against Syracuse with nine saves.

“He was rock solid for us last year,” said Nuttall of Pray, who is from Arizona. “He has tremendous ability.” Rockville Centre native Thomas Germano is backing up Pray in net. The sophomore played four years at South Side High School and was named the Ralph Whitney County Class A Player of the Year as a senior. The engineering science major was a CAA Commissioner’s Academic Award recipient as a freshman and has helped contribute to Hofstra men’s soccer’s success in the classroom, which has had a 3.5 combined grade point average the last two semesters, according to Nuttall.

“He is an amazing student,” Nuttall said of Germano. “He is working very hard in practice and is getting better and better.”

Nuttall set up a challenging non-conference schedule that kicked off against Syracuse and also includes road trips to St. John’s, American and Dartmouth, which made the second round of the NCAA Tournament last year. Hofstra will also host Stony Brook on Oct. 27 in the first meeting between the two Long Island programs in five years. The Pride opens CAA play at home on Sept. 19 against UNC Wilmington, which made the second round of the NCAAs last year.

“The CAA year after year is under-appreciated in terms of the quality of the schools,” Nuttall said. “Playing a tough out of conference schedule is good preparation for us.”