The Long Island Rough Riders men will continue to have a Hofstra University influence during the 2024 USL League Two season.
The team has announced that a pair of Pride captains – defender Pierce Infuso and midfielder Roc Carles will return to the club this season.
Both played important roles for the Rough Riders, who finished atop the Metropolitan Division with a 12-1-1 record and qualified for the 2023 playoffs.
A native of Merrick, N.Y., Infuso is coming off the best season of his college career, as he was named a third-team selection on the NCAA Division I All-America team by the United Soccer Coaches last year.
He is also a two-time All-Atlantic Region and All-Coastal Athletic Association selection. One of the anchors of the Hofstra defense, Infuso helped lead a unit that produced nine shutouts and allowed less than four shots on goal per match. While on attack, he added two goals and an assist in 22 appearances. Infuso, who is a graduate student at the college, was also named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2023 CAA Championship. He has played 75 times for Hofstra.
The 6-foot, 175-lb. Infuso is a graduate of Bellmore JFK High School, where he was named to the all-Nassau County team as a junior.
Carles, a native of Mataro, Spain, is another Hofstra graduate student, having earned Colonial Athletic Association third team honors in 2022. Last year, he was selected for the Academic All-District men’s soccer teams. Majoring in finance, Carles has a 3.98 grade-point average. He is a graduate of Attended Escola Pia Mataro in Catalonia.
Like his teammate, the 5-8, 145-lb. Carles has been one of the Pride’s most reliable performers since joining Hofstra in 2020, having played 69 matches and starting 60. He registered three assists in 21 appearances last season, has found the net four times, and added eight assists in his Pride career.
Both players helped 14th-ranked Hofstra reach the third round of the 2023 NCAA Division I men’s tournament as the Pride was eliminated by No. 3 University of North Carolina in a shootout, 5-3, after playing to a 2-2 draw.
The Rough Riders men will kick off their season as part of a doubleheader at Mitchel Athletic Complex in Uniondale, N.Y. on Sunday, May 19. The men’s team will host New Jersey Copa FC at 6 p.m., after the women’s squad welcomes the Westchester Flames in a USL W League match at 3 p.m.
Don’t miss your chance to be a part of the Rough Riders legacy and ignite your soccer journey. Mark your calendars for March 19th to join our open tryouts, we hope to see you there!