Hofstra women to face Connecticut in NCAA soccer tournament

Hofstra women's soccer measures its success by milestones - the longest winning streak in team history (18), its first national ranking, and now, the Pride's first at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.

Hofstra, which is making its third tournament appearance, will face Connecticut (10-9-3) in the opening round at Boston College on Friday. The Pride made the tournament in 2005 and 2007 after winning the CAA title.

Despite the record-setting winning streak, Hofstra lost its automatic bid after falling to James Madison, 2-0, Sunday.

"We always try to reach milestones," coach Simon Riddiough said. "We have the biggest win streak, that's a milestone. We got nationally ranked for the first time this year. In this situation, we can continue to build on that - the second round is a milestone. Getting to the third round will be another building stone."

Hofstra (18-2) lost to West Virginia in the opening round in 2005, and, after beating Ohio State in 2007, fell to Penn State in overtime.

"From the nation's perspective, we're an underdog," Riddiough said. "From our perspective, we're going in motivated. We've worked hard all year. We could surprise the soccer world."