The Hofstra Men's Soccer team (14-4-3) will host its first-ever NCAA Division I Tournament game in its second straight appearance when it entertains Providence (6-3-9) in an opening round contest on Friday evening at 7 p.m. at Hofstra Soccer Stadium.

The Pride earned the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament with a 1-0 win over Old Dominion in Sunday's CAA Championship. Providence received an at-large selection out of the Big East Conference after an unusual season in which half its games ended up in ties. The winner of the Hofstra-Providence game will then move on to face fourth-seeded North Carolina in a second round game in Chapel Hill next week.

Hofstra made its first-ever NCAA Division I appearance last year, when it made a surprising run as the fifth-seed in the six-team CAA Tournament to win the conference title (also a 1-0 win over Old Dominion). Hofstra then defeated Seton Hall in its NCAA debut before falling to seventh-ranked Maryland in the second round 4-0. This season, second-seeded Hofstra went into the CAA Tournament as one of the favorites and pulled out a 3-2 overtime win over James Madison in the semifinals before defeating top-seeded Old Dominion in the championship. Old Dominion was the highest ranked team (#7) that the Pride has ever defeated.

The hero of the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament was sophomore midfielder Adrian Papaluca (Winston Hills, Australia), who had the game-winning goal with only eight seconds left in regulation in the title game. Just minutes before the winning goal, Papaluca also cleared a potential Old Dominion goal off the line with 4:30 left in regulation to keep the game scoreless. Papaluca also had the game-winning "golden goal" in the first overtime in the Pride's 3-2 win over James Madison in the semifinals, giving him two game-winning goals on the weekend. He entered the CAA Tournament with only one goal all season, a game-winner in a 2-1 win over Stony Brook in Hofstra's season opener on Sept. 1.

The Pride is led offensively by senior forward Michael Todd (Cleveland, England), who had a goal and an assist in the 3-2 win over James Madison in the CAA semifinals. Todd now has 12 goals and five assists on the year, making him the first 12-goal scorer at Hofstra since Stuart Duffin tallied 12 goals in 1998. He is one point shy of the first 30-point season since Duffin had 31 points in 1997 (13 goals, five assists).  

Junior midfielder Constantinos Christoudias (Nicosia. Cyprus) is second on the Pride in scoring with eight goals and nine assists, after tallying two assists in the James Madison win. Christoudias leads the CAA in assists and is one shy of becoming the first player with 10 assists in a season since Patrick Geraghty tied the school record with 12 in 2001. Sophomore midfielder Chris Cox (Nottingham, England) has contributed six goals and three assists on the year, including the tying goal against James Madison with only 5:12 to play in regulation.

Defensively, Hofstra is led by junior center back Gary Flood (Hauppauge, NY), a second-team All-CAA selection and the Most Outstanding Player of the CAA Tournament. Freshman center back Corey Gudmundson (Dallas, TX) is also coming off a strong CAA Tournament, when he marked conference Player of the Year Brian Cvilikas in the championship game and held him to only one shot attempt. Seniors Jason Gates (Fort Collins, CO) and Billy Chung (Succasunna, NJ) round out the Pride's defensive unit, which has helped the team pick up six shutouts in its last seven games.

Senior goalkeeper Matthias Gumbrecht (Hemhofen, Germany) extended his own school record with his 23rd career shutout in the win over Old Dominion in the championship game. Gumbrecht had a streak of 575 minutes without allowing a goal snapped when James Madison scored early in the CAA semifinals.

The CAA Championship was the latest accomplishment in what has been an outstanding fall season for Hofstra Athletics. The Men's and Women's Soccer teams have both won CAA Championships, while the Volleyball team earned the regular season title and hosts the CAA Tournament this weekend. The game marks the first NCAA home game in the history of Hofstra Soccer, and the first for any Hofstra sport since the Men's Lacrosse team played Syracuse in the 2001 quarterfinals.

Tickets go on sale on Tuesday morning, and can be purchased by calling the Hofstra Box Office at 516-463-TIXX. Tickets will be $10 for adults, and $8 for students and senior citizens.