WILLIAMSBURG, Va.— The William & Mary men's soccer team gave No. 24 ranked Hofstra all they could handle on Saturday in the CAA opener, but ultimately fell to the Pride 1-0 at Martin Family Stadium.
 
The game started with the two teams trading shots.

Hofstra tried a pair of attempts in the opening 10 minutes that were off target, while the Tribe had shots from Tre Barrett and Sam Delgado in that same time frame.
 
Barrett's shot was saved, while Delgado's was blocked for a corner.
 
Ryan Eapen, making his second straight start in net for the Tribe did his best to hold the No. 24 Pride off the board.
 
The redshirt freshman came out to meet a promising corner attempt in the 13^th minute while also making key stops in the 19^th and 27^th minute for the Green and Gold.
 
Hofstra turned up the offensive intensity more in the last 10 minutes of the opening half with a shot off the crossbar and another high. The Pride finally solved the Tribe backline in the 38^th minute netting a goal to take a 1-0 lead.
 
W&M made an effort to answer before the half ended, but Aidan Morrison had his shot attempt saved, and Hofstra headed to the break with a one-goal lead.
 
Shots through 45 minutes sat dead-even at 7-7.
 
The Tribe played the second half with high effort and intensity, looking to earn a result in the conference opener against a ranked opponent. That intensity was proven in the shot column, where W&M held an 11-3 advantage over Hofstra in the final 45 minutes.
 
Caldas, Morrison and Delgado all had cracks at goal in the first 10 minutes of the frame but were unable to find the back of the net.
 
The best chance to equalize for the Tribe may have come in the 60^th minute, however, when Caldas got behind the Pride defense.

With the keeper coming out to play the ball, the sophomore took the shot just in time but rattled the right post and the game remained 1-0.
 
Looking for one last push, the W&M attack attempted five shots over the final five minutes of regulation, but the Pride backline was up to the task and Hofstra would escape with a hard-fought 1-0 win.
 
The final shot total favored W&M 19-10, while Eapen made three saves for the Tribe in his second career start.
 
Starters
W&M- #2 Howes, #3 Smith, #9 Caldas, #11 Morrison, #12 Barrett, #13 Crocco, #14 Sigurjonsson, #15 Delgado, #19 Katsari-Hoefer, #21 Cooper,
HOF- #1 Dadone, #2 Pacheco. #7 Barnett, #8 Hall, #10 Carles, #12 O'Malley, #16 Farrell, #20 Infuso, #21 Woznicki, #22 Gill, #27 Goddard
 
Up Next
W&M will hit the road to play Old Dominion in Norfolk on Tuesday. Kick is set for 7 p.m. with the game on ESPN+.