Charleston, Hofstra Advance to CAA Men's Soccer Semifinals
Charleston (8-4-5) and Hofstra (10-4-4) advanced from the opening round of the 2026 CAA Men's Soccer Championship on Thursday to earn spots in Sunday's semifinals. Hofstra earned a 3-2 victory over Drexel to set up a matchup with top-seeded Stony Brook, while Charleston defeated Elon, 2-0, to advance to face top-seeded UNCW.
No. 3 Charleston 2, No. 2 Elon 0
BOX SCORE
ELON, N.C. (November 5, 2026) - Matt Lenart and Michiharu Takanashi each contributed a goal and an assist to lead No. 3 Charleston (8-4-5) to a 2-0 victory over No. 2 Elon (9-3-6) in the South Division first round of the CAA Men’s Soccer Championship on Thursday evening at Rudd Field.
The Cougars advance to face South Division No. 1 seed UNCW at 6 pm on Sunday in the semifinals. It’s Charleston first appearance in the semifinals since 2017.
After a scoreless opening half, Charleston broke through shortly after the break. In the 47th minute, Lenert fired a shot into the bottom left corner of the goal off assists from Takanashi and Kira Fukuda, putting the Cougars in front, 1-0. In the 60th minute, Lenert turned provider sending a pass to Takanashi, who finished the opportunity to double the Cougars' lead.
That was all the offense Charleston would need as keeper Charlie Duske made two saves to record his second shutout of the season.
Both teams struggled to find an offensive rhythm in a scoreless opening half. Charleston generated pressure behind attempts from Stian Bendvold and Lenert, with Bendvold creating one of the Cougars' best scoring opportunities in the 11th minute. His attempt toward the bottom-left corner was turned away by Elon goalkeeper Drew Hartman to keep the match scoreless.
Elon threatened late in the half when Diego Thompson put a shot toward the bottom center of the net in the 41st minute, but Duske made the save to send the teams into halftime deadlocked at 0-0.
Charleston finished with a 17-13 shot advantage. Hartman made three saves for Elon, which saw its nation’s-best 20-match home unbeaten streak come to an end.
No. 2 Hofstra 3, No. 3 Drexel 2
BOX SCORE
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (November 5, 2026) - Joel Bona, Pietro Santi and Lewis Johnson each scored to lead No. 2 Hofstra to a 3-2 victory over No. 3 Drexel (6-8-4) in the North Division first round of the CAA Men's Soccer Championship on Thursday at Captains Field.
Hofstra took a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute as Joel Bona scored his first goal of the season on a shot from 20 yards out. The Pride struck again less than seven minutes later when Pietro Santi headed in a corner kick from Jack Benham to increase the advantage to 2-0. Hofstra pushed its lead to 3-0 in the 40th minute when a cross into the box by Axel Ruben was headed into the goal by Lewis Johnson. The goal came after Drexel was reduced to 10 men following a red card to Daniel Frye in the 33rd minute.
Drexel mounted a late second-half push, scoring twice in the final 15 minutes. Sharif Mohammed found the back of the net from 25 yards out in the 76th minute off assists from Ben Weller and Gustavo Santana to cut the deficit to 3-1. Four minutes later, Victor Moerck scored to bring the Dragons within one.
Hofstra weathered the late rally as goalkeeper Milo Risenhoover made a key save on a potential game-tying attempt from Weller in the 87th minute to preserve the Pride's lead.
Hofstra finished with a 16-12 advantage in shots and a 7-5 edge in shots on goal. The Pride advances to face North Division No. 1 seed Stony Brook in the semifinals at 2 pm on Sunday, with the winner earning a spot in the CAA Championship game.