By: Christian Hince | September 17, 2021
The UAlbany Men’s soccer team was dominated Wednesday night at Hofstra 4-0 in a very one-sided affair. The loss brought the Great Danes to a record of 4-2, and their host, the Pride to 4-1.
It wasn’t long before the Pride took control of the match. Assisted by Storm Strongin and Stefan Mason, Ryan Carmichael scored with a header past UAlbany goalie Carlos Tofern at the 10:50 mark. Just nine minutes later, Hendrik Hebbeker and Pierce Infuso set up Matthew Vowinkel for a goal of his own.
Hofstra wouldn’t score again for the rest of the half, taking their 2-0 lead to the half. The Great Danes didn’t have much to answer with, launching just two shots the half compared to Hofstra’s seven.
Not much changed in the second half. It did not take long before the game was blown open. Matthew Vowinkel scored his second goal at 49:52, and not even four minutes later, he set up the night’s final score for Henry Hebbeker, making it 4-0.
UAlbany was simply not able to consistently create opportunities throughout the game. The Great Danes were outshot in the match 14-5. Hofstra also outpaced UAlbany with corner kicks, attempting 10 in contrast to just 4 from UAlbany.
“Tonight isn't the kind of result or performance that we're happy with,” said head coach Trevor Gorman. “We were slow to start against a hungry, mature, and dangerous Hofstra team and they punished us.”
Despite this being just the second loss of the season for UAlbany, it shines a light on an offensive attack that has been lackluster through six games. The Great Danes have yet to score more than once in a game, and they’ve been shut out twice now.
“We were shown the importance of the intensity and commitment necessary to win a match,” said Gorman. “We have a great opportunity to learn from it ahead of our conference opener against a top-ten nationally-ranked opponent on Saturday."
UAlbany has a chance to get back in the win column Saturday against the ranked No. 9 New Hampshire Wildcats, the team’s first American East opponent this season and three-time defending conference champion.