Williamsburg, Va. - Freshman defender Tyler Botte (North Babylon, N.Y.) scored his first collegiate goal with 4:59 left in regulation to tie the score, and senior forward Johannes Granh (Tibro, Sweden) converted a penalty kick with five seconds left, as third-seeded Hofstra, playing down a man, came back for a dramatic 2-1 win over second-seeded VCU on Friday in the Colonial Athletic Association semifinals on Friday evening at William & Mary.

With the win, Hofstra improves to 8-6-5 and moves on to the CAA championship game on Sunday at 1 p.m. against host William & Mary, which defeated fourth-seeded Delaware 1-0 on a goal with 24 seconds left in the second overtime. Head Coach Richard Nuttall picked up his 200th career win in dramatic fashion for the Pride, while Hofstra also extended its unbeaten streak to seven games (5-0-2), continuing its dramatic run from 11th place in the conference standings on Oct. 20 into a third place finish and a spot in the CAA finals.

Alberto Fonseca gave VCU the lead in the 77th minute, when he got to a loose ball 20 yards from goal and sent a shot in just inside the far post to give the Rams a 1-0 lead.  Soon after, freshman defender Shaun Foster (Southport, England) drew a red card, forcing the Pride to play down a man for the final eight minutes.

Despite being shorthanded, Botte knotted the score up with 4:59 to go on a rebound in the box after his first shot was blocked, to tie the score at 1-1 onhis first collegiate goal. VCU was then called for a foul in the box with five seconds left, as Grahn got in behind the defense and was pulled down to stop his breakaway. Grahn stepped up and slotted home the penalty kick to give Hofstra the 2-1 win.

The first half was uneventful with both teams taking four shots, and freshman goalkeeper Roberto Pellegrini (Monte Porzio Catone, Italy) making two saves for the Pride. VCU had a quick flurry in the first two minutes of the second half, with a corner kick that resulted in two shots, one of which was blocked and the other sailed high. Hofstra then earned a corner of its own in the 54th minute, but freshman midfielder Chris Griebsch (Dessau-Rosslau, Germany) had his shot go high.

VCU's Jason Johnson had the best scoring chance of the game up until that point in the 68th minute, but he hit the post, as the score remained deadlocked 0-0.

The Rams finished with a 14-10 edge in shots. Pellegrini had three saves for the Pride in the loss, while Pantazelos had one save for the Rams.  

Hofstra will be making its fourth appearance in the CAA finals, and has won the first three it played in from 2004-06. One of those titles was actually won with another goal in the last 10 seconds, as Adrian Papaluca scored with eight seconds left against Old Dominion in the 2005 title game. Hofstra's all-time CAA Tournament record is now 7-1-1 after its win oer VCU.

Hofstra must play without Foster, though, who was named the CAA Defensive Player of the Year and the Rookie of the Year.