Hempstead, N.Y. – Matchups against four NCAA Tournament qualifiers – including three teams that made it as least as far as the second round – highlight the 2013 Hofstra Men's Soccer schedule that head coach Richard Nuttall announced today.
Hofstra's challenging schedule includes 17 games against teams that finished a combined 20 games (141-121-60) over .500 in 2012. The Pride will face off against Brown, Northeastern, Fairleigh Dickinson and Drexel, who all were postseason qualifiers last season.
The Pride went 11-6-4 and advanced to the Colonial Athletic Association championship game in 2012 after making the conference tournament for the second time in three seasons
“We're excited to again play a challenging schedule that will help us prepare for another competitive conference slate,” Nuttall said. “We're playing six teams that won 10 or more games last season, so we will be tested from beginning to end.”
Hofstra will open the regular season at home on Sept. 1 versus Colgate at 3:30 p.m. The Pride finished 6-2-2 at Hofstra Soccer Stadium last season. The Pride will then embark on a three-game road trip starting on Sept. 6 before traveling to take on Temple and Boston University. The matchup against BU will be a rematch of Hofstra's 2-1 home win over the Terriers last September.
On Sept. 15, Hofstra will return home to face a Brown team that is coming off a 13-3-3 season and a second-round NCAA Tournament appearance. The meeting will be the first between the schools since the teams played to a scoreless tie in 2010.
Hofstra will then travel to Vermont before a two-game homestand begins Sept. 22 versus Monmouth at 1 p.m. After a six-day break, the Pride will then welcome UNH at 2 p.m. in non-league game against former America East rivals.
Hofstra's last non-conference tune-up before CAA play will be on Oct. 2 at Rutgers. The Pride will then begin conference play on Oct. 5 with a home game against UNCW at 7 p.m. Hofstra will then face Northeastern on the road on Oct. 9, pitting the two CAA finalists against each other. It is the second straight season the Pride will the face Huskies on the road in the regular season. Northeastern made it to the NCAA Tournament second round in 2012.
The Pride will host James Madison on Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. before facing the College of Charleston on Oct. 19. The road contest will mark Hofstra's first-ever CAA game against the Cougars. Fairleigh Dickinson, which went 11-6-6 and made it to the third round of the tournament before falling to then-defending national champion North Carolina, will be the final non-conference game on the slate when the Knights travel to Hempstead on Oct. 22.
Rounding out the regular season for Nuttall's squad will be back-to-back CAA road games, starting at William & Mary on Oct. 26 and at regular-season champion Drexel on Oct. 30. The match against the Dragons will be the first since Hofstra advanced in the CAA Tournament Semifinals on penalty kicks.
Hofstra will close out the regular season at home against Delaware on Nov. 3. The CAA Tournament is scheduled for Nov. 9-6.
To prepare for the season, Hofstra will have three scrimmages, starting with an exhibition against Lafayette on Aug. 18 at John J. Burns Park in Massapequa at 4 p.m. The Pride will also scrimmage Hartwick on the road on Aug. 21 and host C.W. Post in an exhibition on Aug. 27 at 7 p.m.
