Your Syracuse Orange sit at a respectable 1-1-0 after a two-game West Coast road trip against some tough opposition. Coach McIntyre’s team now gets ready to kick off the campaign at home against the Hofstra Pride. The two teams have met a total of two times, splitting the series in favor of the home side.
The Pride are currently 0-2-1, coming off a 2-0 loss to No. 21 Colgate on Thursday night. Their other matches included a 2-2 draw with the Dayton Flyers and a 1-0 loss to Ohio State. They come to SU Soccer Stadium on Sunday for the 2018 home opener.
For this year’s campaign, Hofstra loses two All-CAA players, including forward Danny Elliott, and midfielder Mani Walcott. Elliott was tied for the team points scored lead, with 9 (3 goals, 3 assists). The other joint top points scorer on the squad, forward Luke Brown, returns for his junior season. As a returning third team All-CAA selection, he should be looked to to lead the line for the Pride.
Oscar Ramsay, the leading goal scorer for the Pride last season (4) will return as a junior to complete a potent forward line. From the back, they return a senior keeper Alex Ashton, who has already amassed 15 saves on the year. That should be a good sign for the Orange, as in three matches, teams are showing a good number of shots on Hofstra.
⚽️ No. 21 @ColgateMSOC is on a roll to start 2018. It's another win as Edward Bass and Oliver Harris each find the back of the net to improve @ecronning's squad to 3-0-0. @WatchStadium pic.twitter.com/ehrg38KLoy
— Patriot League Network | PatriotLeague.tv (@PatriotLeagueTV) August 31, 2018
The Orange return home after a road trip that featured some great matches against some quality opposition. In doing so, they look to have worked some things out, finding a formation shift back to a three man back line was again going to be the preferred formation going forward.
Hofstra was predicted to finish middle of the pack in the CAA and should be a good test for the Orange to start the home slate, providing a nice test before the schedule gets brutal next week. The match is Sunday, September 2, at 6 p.m. ET up at SU Soccer Stadium.