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Hofstra University Athletics

THE PRIDE OF LONG ISLAND
THE PRIDE OF LONG ISLAND
Patric Pray
Patric Pray
0
Hofstra HOFSTRA (14-8-0)
3
Winner Georgetown GU (16-2-2)
Hofstra HOFSTRA
(14-8-0)
0
Final
3
Georgetown GU
(16-2-2)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Hofstra HOFSTRA 0 0 0
Georgetown GU 1 2 3

Game Recap: Men's Soccer | | By Brian Bohl

MSOC: Hofstra Drops 3-0 Decision To #2 Georgetown In NCAA Tournament Second Round

Washington – Hofstra senior goalkeeper Patric Pray made seven saves, but No. 2 Georgetown's Arun Basuljevic scored a fifth-minute goal and the Hoyas added two goals in the final four minutes as the Pride fell, 3-0, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Sunday afternoon at Shaw Field.

Hofstra ended its season 14-8. The Pride won the Colonial Athletic Association tournament and regular season championships and made the national tournament for the first time since 2006.

Georgetown, ranked second in the last NSCAA national poll and the third overall national seed, advanced to the third round and will host the winner of South Florida and Boston College in the Sweet 16 round. The Hoyas (16-2-2) have made the third round for the second straight season after falling in the Elite 8 round of the 2014 campaign.

Brandon Allen scored an 87th minute penalty-kick goal and Alex Muyl scored with less than a second left to account for the final margin.

Pray made two consecutive point-blank saves on Keegan Rosenberry in the 71st minute to keep Hofstra down just a goal. Four of Pray's total saves came in the second half to give Hofstra a chance. Counterpart JT Marcinkowski also registered a fantastic first-half save on sophomore forward Meshack Eshun Addy and tallied three total saves for Georgetown.

Georgetown opened the scoring 4:26 in and held on for the win following the early momentum. Bake Goodman worked the ball in the 18-yard box on the left flank and found the trailing Basuljevic on a centering pass and the midfielder slotted the ball to the right side from nearly eight yards out for sixth goal of the season.

Pray made back-to-back outstanding plays in the 18th minute to keep the deficit at one. Basuljevic created space but Pray came out to take away the angle and forced him to shoot left as the ball ringed off the post. Georgetown corralled the rebound and Goodman raced in close and fired a second shot that Pray came out and blocked to end the sequence with a save.

Eshun Addy had Hofstra's best chance late, taking Holland's pass and firing a shot just high in the 84th minute despite playing with 10 men following junior Nino Alfonso's red card in the 79th minute.

Georgetown's Melvin Snow drew a foul in the box with 3:50 left and Allen converted the penalty kick for the insurance marker with 3:48 left. Allen's goal was the 50th in his career to give him sole possession of Georgetown's record. The forward is a MAC Hermann Trophy watch list selection and increased  his season goal total to 12.

The first half saw both netminders make great saves to keep it a low-scoring game heading into the break. Pray made a diving save to his left on Joshua Yaro's 22nd minute shot.

Marcinkowski responded with another great save in the 36th minute to snuff out Eshun Addy's great chance. Junior Joseph Holland beat a defender deep in the box and hit Eshun Addy with a centering pass. Marcinkowski moved laterally to his right and caught the hard shot attempt to keep the Hoyas ahead by a goal.

Georgetown took the 1-0 lead into halftime in controlling possession, generating six corners compared to none for Hofstra. The Pride trailed at the half for just the seventh time in 22 games.

Holland, the CAA Player of the Year, logged four of Hofstra's 10 total shots. Junior midfielder Mario Ruiz added two shots and Eshun Addy contributed two.

The Pride was playing a top-5 team for the first time since 2008 against No. 2 SMU.

Hofstra made the fifth-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament and the first since 2006. Four of the teams trips (2004, 2005, 2006 and this season) have come under Head Coach Richard Nuttall, who earned the CAA Coach of the Year award for leading the team to the league's regular season championship.

With a 2-1 overtime win over Lehigh in the opening round, the Pride advanced to the second round for the third time under Nuttall and posted a win in the NCAA Tournament for a third time (with first-round wins coming also in 2004 and 2006). Hofstra lost in the opening round in 1968 when only 16 teams qualified.

The game marked the final collegiate contests for seniors Daniel Grundei, Marius Flateboe, Felix Schaefer and Pray.

Pray, who played three seasons for the Pride after transferring from Washington, ended his career second on the team's all-time shutout list with 19. He blanked eight teams this season.  Flateboe and Schaefer were four-year players for the Pride and Grundei served as a team captain after transferring from Towson after the Tigers terminated the program.

Hofstra freshman defender Sean Nealis played against the school of his older brother Jimmy, who starred for the Hoyas from 2009-12. 
 
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