Harrisonburg, VA – Pride goals by senior Sean Nealis and junior Luke Brown in the final 10:37 of regulation erased a 1-0 deficit and gave third-seed Hofstra a 2-1 victory over the second-seed Seahawks of UNCW in the semifinals of the Colonial Athletic Association Men's Soccer Championship at Sentara Park Friday evening.

The Hofstra victory sends the Pride into Sunday's CAA Championship game against top-seed James Madison, a 2-0 winner over fifth-seed William and Mary in the other CAA semifinal.  The title game will begin at 1 p.m. Hofstra will be looking for their fifth CAA Championship and will be making their seventh CAA title game appearance.

The Pride, who improved to 10-6-4 on the season with their third win in the last four outings, fell behind the Seahawks of UNCW in the 32nd minute as Danny Reynolds scored on a free kick from 30 yards out that beat Pride goalie Alex Ashton (two saves).

Hofstra came out inspired in the second half and carried much of the play in the final 45 minutes. The Pride thought they had tied the game in the 77th minute but had the goal nullified by an offside call. But Hofstra scored the equalizer with 10:37 to play as Nealis, who was the 2018 CAA Defensive Player of the Year, used his height to head in a corner kick by Marcus Lindquist to tie the game at 1-1. It was Nealis' second goal of the year

A little over six minutes later, at the 85:27 mark, Hofstra was given a gift by UNCW goalie Ryan Cretens (4 saves) as the senior got careless in the box and Brown rushed in and stole the ball and slid a shot into the empty net. It was Brown's sixth goal of the season and his third game-winning goal of the year.

Hofstra outshot UNCW, 14-8 including 7-3 in the second half while the Seahawks had the advantage in corner kicks, 8-2.

For Sunday's Championship game match-up, the Pride faced James Madison on October 13 in Hempstead and dropped a 2-0 decision to the Dukes.

Notes
- Hofstra is now 4-1-1 in their last six games.
- Hofstra is ranked 85th in the latest NCAA RPI while JMU is 41st. UNCW was 31st.
- The Pride is now 13-9-2 against the Seahawks.
- Hofstra is now 2-6-0 when the opponent scores first and 1-4 when trailing at halftime.