Hofstra men's soccer falls to Pittsburgh in third round of NCAA Tournament

The Hofstra men’s soccer team had its magical season come to an end. The Pride were defeated by No. 5 Pittsburgh, 4-0, Saturday evening in the third round of the NCAA Tournament.

Filip Mirkovic got the scoring started for the Panthers in the 40th minute. He launched a kick from 35 yards out that just sneaked in the left post and past the diving reach of goalie Wessel Speel. Speel made seven saves.

Hofstra had a chance to answer less than a minute later. Ryan Carmichael received a pass in the box, but Pitt goalie Nico Campuzano made a diving save to turn his shot away. That would be Hofstra’s only shot on goal of the game.

Pittsburgh (13-5-1) proceeded to score three more goals in the second half. The Panthers came out the break and netted their second one in less than four minutes. Ralph Crivello found the net on an assist from Mirkovic. Bertin Jacquesson scored the third goal in the 63rd minute before Crivello scored his second goal of the game to put Pitt ahead 4-0.

This was the first tournament appearance for Hofstra (18-2-2) since 2015 and the first time in school history they advanced to the third round of the tournament. In their previous game they scored eight goals against Penn State, the fifth most in a single game in NCAA Tournament history.

The Panthers advance to the Elite Eight where they will face the winner of Wake Forest-No. 4 Notre Dame.