Daniel Burko fed the ball in front of the goal to Laurie Goddard, and suddenly, amid the Vermont flurries, the Pride players were racing toward a sideline snowbank to celebrate one of the biggest wins in Hofstra history — any sport.
The unseeded Pride had just evicted the top overall seed, the defending national champion and TopDrawerSoccer’s top-ranked team in the country from the NCAA Division I men’s soccer tournament in the second round, beating Vermont, 3-2, in overtime last Sunday.
“The gamut of emotions in the millisecond is unbelievable,” coach Richard Nuttall said. “You worry about conceding and what we’re going to do to try to score. And suddenly you score. It just changes instantly to euphoria.”
It was only the fourth time a Hofstra team had ever upset the nation’s No. 1 team, joining the softball, wrestling and men’s lacrosse programs.
“After we scored that winning goal, I think it was, like, one of my best feelings at Hofstra,” said Gino Cervoni, the redshirt junior goalkeeper out of Carey who played the first half. “You can describe us as underdogs, but we’ve also been there before.”
So it’s on to the third round, a step away from the quarterfinals, at 1 p.m. Sunday at 16th-seeded Furman (15-1-4), which has the nation’s longest current winning streak at nine.
Hofstra (14-5) has been to the NCAA Tournament nine times, including these last five seasons under Nuttall. It hasn’t made it past this round in two tries, in 2021 and 2023.
But this postseason run is even more meaningful because it’s Nuttall’s last run.
Hofstra men’s soccer coach Richard Nuttall, left, with his son, Jack, middle, and assistant coach Shaun Foster after Sunday’s thrilling win over Vermont in the NCAA Tournament. Credit: Hofstra Athletics/Alexis Friedman
After becoming the winningest coach in program history over these last 37 seasons, the 62-year-old Englishman will be stepping down.
“I think to be honest, he’s kept it together very well,” said associate head coach Stephen Roche, the 39-year-old Irishman and West Islip resident who was named the head coach-in-waiting in September 2024. “It’s been about the team, not about him.”
Knowing, though, that every game could be his last?
“It is very emotional,” Nuttall said. “But the emotion of the situation is the one you focus in on yourself. You’re trying to win games. What can we do to give us the best chance to win?”
His team isn’t happy just to have come this far. First prize, after all, is available.
“Why not us?” Roche said. “Absolutely.”
Hofstra can dare to dream after blanking Syracuse, 2-0, in the opening round and especially after taking down the Catamounts.
“To beat them in their home venue when they’re the reigning national champions, that proves that we can beat anybody, and it has given us the confidence moving forward that we can continue to do that,” Roche said.
“When we recruit all these guys,” he added, “we tell them, ‘Listen, our aim is to win the national championship. We know that we’re good enough. We just haven’t produced it yet.’ So it’s no surprise to us that we’re here.”
When Nuttall arrived at Hofstra in 1989, the former pro player in England inherited a team coming off a 3-9-6 season, its fifth sub-.500 output in nine years.
His record now stands at 364-264-87 — including 14 straight seasons at .500 or better — and his teams have claimed eight CAA titles.
It was announced in August that he will become the assistant athletic director for development and alumni affairs. He lives in Uniondale. It’s a very short walk for him to the campus every morning. Easy commute.
But why stop walking over to coach?
“I’ve enjoyed coming to work for the last 37 [years],” Nuttall said. “I’m around great people at a great university. [It’s] mainly because I’ve never had my weekends and evenings free a lot of the time. Between doing this job and working in the soccer community, I’ve never had time to be with my family.
“We’re getting the kids out of the house, thank God,” he said, breaking into a big laugh. “Maybe me and my wife can see if we like each other.
“. . . But I’ve got so much energy. Maybe in a few weeks, I’ll think I want to go back into coaching. But you don’t know, do you? You just don’t know until you try it. So I’m proud of myself that I’ve got the courage to go out [on] the top, if that makes sense, and see what life holds.”
The next Hofstra coach has learned a lot being by Nuttall’s side the last 10 seasons.
“The two big things I would say is choose your staff wisely,” Roche said, “and then just the way he treats people. Everybody around campus loves Richie.”
Coincidentally, Furman coach Doug Allison also is stepping down, retiring after 31 seasons.
So it’s going to be one coach’s last match. Hofstra doesn’t plan on it being Nuttall’s.
“Especially going into these big games, knowing that it could be Richie’s last game, I think it gives the guys an extra thing to think about,” Cervoni said, “and it really pushes us to go the extra lengths and give everything we have to getting the job done.”
