Elon and Hofstra were defeated in the first round of the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship to conclude the 2022 CAA Men's Soccer season. 

Elon fell 1-0 to No. 9 Marshall, and Hofstra was defeated at South Florida, 4-2.

No. 9 Marshall 1, Elon 0

The Elon University men's soccer team dropped a 1-0 decision to No. 9 Marshall in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night at Rudd Field.

With the loss, the Phoenix finishes the season at 11-5-3 overall, while Marshal improves to 11-3-3 and advances to the second round, where it will play at Virginia on Sunday.

Marshall controlled possession for the majority of the opening stanza, but Elon got the first shot of the half on a look from Jack Dolk in the 30th minute. The junior forward's try was snuffed out by the netminder to keep the match scoreless. 

The Herd dominated in corners in the first period, 9-2, and eventually would strike on one of its set pieces. Mohammed Seidu headed in a shot off a corner kick serviced in by Gabriel Alves in the 43rd minute to put Marshall ahead 1-0.

In the second half, the Phoenix started to throw numbers forward to find the equalizer.

After the Phoenix's Ryan Bilichuk made his first save of the night in the 51st minute, Elon nearly responded with a goal on the preceding counter. Jeppe Jordoson had a look near the top of the 18, but again, the goalkeeper was there for the save.

Elon had five more looks for the tying goal after that, but each shot was stopped by the keeper or was off target.

Mason Duval had a couple of chances in the final three minutes, but a pair of header attempts went wide, as Marshall secured the win.

Elon ended up winning the shot battle, 8-7, with six of those attempts coming in the second half.

ANKLES SNATCHED 🤯#ELONvsMU pic.twitter.com/8TqgnkxcWe

— Elon Men's Soccer (@ElonMSoccer) November 18, 2022

The Phoenix also held the Herd to one corner in the second session, with Marshall having a 10-7 advantage overall. 

The defeat was the Phoenix's first in three NCAA tournament games at its home pitch. Prior to Thursday's contest, Elon was 1-0-1 all-time in the NCAA tournament at home. 

Both teams met on the soccer pitch for the first time since the 2009 season when they met at the UNCG Kickoff Classic. The Phoenix earned a 2-0 win in that contest to pull the series to 1-1 before tonight's meeting.

South Florida 4, Hofstra 2

Eliot Goldthorp scored both Hofstra goals, but South Florida scored four unanswered goals to erase a 1-0 deficit, as the Bulls picked up a 4-2 victory in the first round of the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship at Corbett Field. 

South Florida advances to play top-seeded Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky, on Sunday night.

The Pride sees their season end with a 14-4-3 record, while South Florida improves to 9-6-4.

Hofstra got on the board first, as Goldthorp sent in a shot from 20 yards out at the 5:09 mark. The goal was Goldthorp's 16th of the season.

Ajmeer Spengler tied the game for the Bulls at 28:10, sending in a shot from outside the 18-yard box into the upper left corner. 

South Florida earned a corner kick in the final minute, and Oscar Resano converted a pass from Brian Schaefer to send the Bulls into halftime with a 2-1 advantage. 

South Florida got a second half goal from Marcus Victorio 8:32 in, following a Pride turnover deep in the defensive zone, to make it 3-1. Just over seven minutes later, the Bulls struck again as Shion Soga took a through ball from Gabrielle Privitera and scored to make it 4-1.

Bulls Nation answered the call last night! We couldn’t have done it without you guys!#HornsUp🤘| @CayCayCottrell pic.twitter.com/DdpTxPLMpu

— USF Men's Soccer (@USFMSOC) November 18, 2022

Goldthorp scored his 17th of the season on a great individual effort, dribbling across the top of the 18-yard box from right to left, before sending a shot through traffic into the lower left corner of the goal.

Hofstra did have some other scoring chances, as Hendrik Hebbeker had a shot from distance that went off the fingertips of keeper Jakson Weyman, and Francesco Perinelli had a shot in close that also was turned away by Weyman. 

Hofstra slipped to 5-7 all-time in NCAA Tournament play. 

Goldthorp joined Roc Carles and Hebbeker as the only Pride players with two goals in an NCAA Championship game. 

Wessel Speel had three saves for the Pride. 

Hofstra's 14 wins are tied for third-most in program history. Goldthorp's 17 goals rank third all-time in Hofstra single-season history.