Hofstra men's soccer falls in second round of NCAA Tournament

The seeding was higher than it had ever been. The national profile had grown.

Hofstra owned an opportunity to grow it even more after receiving the seventh seed for its fourth straight trip to the NCAA Division I men’s soccer tournament.

The Pride rode into their second-round match against unseeded Vermont on Sunday at Captains Field with a 22-game home unbeaten streak. They found themselves down a goal in the 86th minute, but Roc Carles scored the equalizer after a blocked shot.

Joy and renewed hope washed over the Pride. And then it was gone. The officials negated the goal with a controversial offside ruling as Hofstra’s season ended with a tough 2-1 loss.

No trip to the third round was coming. That belongs to the Catamounts next weekend at home against San Diego.

“I’m angry,” Carles said. “The whole team is angry.”

Forward Jacob Woznicki was deemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“[The official] said he was offside, which he was,” Pride coach Richard Nuttall said. “ . . . [The officials] may have looked [at the replay] and said he was close on the [scoreboard] screen, which they’re not supposed to do. They were seen looking at the screen as well, which is not right.

“But the whole rationale is wrong. He’s got to be in the line of sight, and he wasn’t in the line of sight when you look at the film. And even if he was, no keeper  in the world  is saving that shot.

“But look, we’ve been beaten by a very good team, Vermont. So we’ve got to handle it and move on in life.”

Woznicki had collected a feed from Teddy Baker that deflected off a defender and beat Niklas Herceg from about 6 yards out, evening it for the CAA champs at 1-1 in the 52nd minute.

“Obviously, tying it, you feel on top of the world, like we’re going to go and get another one, go get a second or third and put the game away,” said Pierce Infuso, a grad center back from Merrick.

But it took 51 seconds for the Catamounts (13-2-5) to retake the edge. David Ismail spectacularly played a feed off his heel, sending the ball in the air and then booting it to the far side of the net from a sharp right angle past Filippo Dadone.

“We were just staying calm,” Ismail said about conceding the tying goal. “We knew we were going to come back as soon as possible.”

The Pride (14-5-2) tried to come back. Baker hit the post in the 77th minute and Carles hit the net. But it wasn’t to be.

“I’m just proud that our seniors and fifth-year guys get to play one more,” Vermont coach Rob Dow said.

A strong first half helped. Yaniv Bazini gave the Catamounts the lead in the eighth minute. Hofstra had only one shot that required a save in the first half.

“It’s so sad that we’ve got to end this way,” Nuttall said. “ . . . But I’m so proud of the guys.”