In a 1-1 week, the Knights bounced back in their conference opener following a loss on the road to No. 17 Pitt. On Sunday, FDU kicked off their NEC title defense on home turf against Howard in torrential downpour with a 4-2 victory. With the game tied at 1-1, Hamdaoua scored his first goal of the season in the 30th minute with a low-driven strike in to the left side-netting of the goal. He then found himself on the end of a longball into the final third, took his first touch past the keeper and tucked it home for a 3-1 lead with seconds to go in the first half. Building upon this momemtum, the senior from Paris, France completed his hat-trick in the 58th minute following up a rebound from a set-piece. Hamdaoua recorded the first hat-trick in the NEC this season and now co-leads the Knights in goals (3) with teammate Tony Gomez. Hamdaoua produced the most points this week across the conference accumulating six in just one game. Following the first week on NEC action, FDU picked up three points and sit at the top of the leaderboards with Saint Francis U and Sacred Heart.