Eliot Goldthorp connected for his NCAA-best 15th goal of the season for the game-winner. (Photo courtesy of Hofstra)

Eliot Goldthorp’s NCAA Division I-leading 15th goal of the season, late in the second half, snapped a 1-1 tie and gave the third-seeded Hofstra University men a 2-1 victory over second-seeded and 10-man UNCW in the Colonial Athletic Association semifinals at UNCW Soccer Stadium in Wilmington, N.C. on Sunday.

The Pride (13-3-3), which has won four consecutive games and is on a six-game unbeaten streak, advanced to the CAA Championship Game at top-seeded Elon University Saturday at noon, in a rematch of last year’s final.

It also will be Hofstra’s third consecutive CAA title game appearance as the Pride look for back-to-back championships.

UNCW (6-4-7) opened the scoring at 13:17 as Ethan Newsome sent in a shot from the top of the box into the upper right corner. The goal came off a corner kick in which the Seahawks shot was blocked and the ball came back out to Newsome for the open shot.

Hofstra took advantage of a set piece at 30:55 mark as Goldthorp sent a long free kick into the box that found the feet of Marcelo Lage. The Pride defender knocked in his third goal of the season to tie the score at 1-1.

The score remained that way until Goldthorp’s goal, which came just over a minute after UNCW’s Angelo Madrid was red-carded for a dangerous tackle. The goal was set up by Owen Barnett who executed a give-and-go with Nico Oberrauch and took a shot that UNCW keeper Gabriel Perrotta saved. The rebound found Goldthorp coming in from the right side and his open shot for his game-winning goal of the season.

Perrotta finished with nine saves while Hofstra goalkeeper Wessel Speel made six saves. There was a great deal of offense in the game as the teams were credited with 39 combined shots. UNCW had 20 and Hofstra 19.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.