Hempstead, N.Y. – Sophomore Patric Pray made three saves in his first collegiate start and junior forward Maid Memic provided the only offense with a 57th-minute goal to lead the Pride past New Hampshire, 1-0, Saturday afternoon at Hofstra Soccer Stadium.
The Pride stayed undefeated at home and improved to 4-3-1. All four of the team's victories have come by a single goal on Hofstra's home field. UNH dropped to 5-3 with the loss in the non-conference matchup.
Senior defender and team co-captain Tyler Botte helped key a defensive unit that allowed just four on-target shots. Botte helped Hofstra gain a possession advantage and craft a 10-5 shot advantage after halftime. The North Babylon, N.Y. native also saved a goal with a great jumping defensive save on the goal line in the 42nd minute to keep the game scoreless heading into halftime.
Memic notched his third goal in the last two games (accounting for all of Hofstra's goal outputs in two victories) when he gathered a deflected and blasted a straight-ahead shot that beat keeper Giovani Riello high at 56:29 for the game's only score. Memic, who is also a co-captain, has a team-leading four goals.
Hofstra's defense made the lead stand up thanks to the effort of Botte, sophomore Marius Flateboe, freshman Rory Murphy and hustle plays by freshman Nino Alfonso. Freshman Kyle Poetzsch gave the Pride a lift off the bench with two shots.
Pray made his first collegiate start and his second-ever NCAA appearance in goal in place of the injured Roberto Pellegrini. The transfer from Washington University made his biggest stop of the game in the 90th minute as UNH had two chances to tie it.
Uche Ugochukwu took a shot near the back post from approximately 10 yards out that Pray saved with less than 30 seconds on the clock. Ugochukwu's rebound attempt went wide as Hofstra held on for the victory. Pray registered two first-half saves and the late stop for his final total.
The Pride improved to 6-2-1 in the all-time series against UNH, which used to be an America East rivalry. The Wildcats entered with wins in four of the last five games and four shutouts before Memic tallied his sixth game-winner since 2012.
Before the game, Hofstra held a moment of silence for former student-athlete Jeff Galluzzo, who passed away recently from cancer. Galluzzo was a standout player at Hofstra from 1986-89, tallying 21 goals, 18 assists and 60 points in 67 games. He twice led Hofstra in assists and points and scored a team-high 12 goals a sophomore in 1987. His career assist total is still the sixth-highest in program history.
Hofstra will next be in action on Wednesday with a road trip to Rutgers at 7 p.m. It will mark the final non-conference matchup before the Pride start Colonial Athletic Association play on Oct. 5 versus UNC Wilmington.
