By Rob Pelaez -- STAFF WRITER
Saturday marked the beginning of the season for the Hofstra men’s lacrosse team, and they couldn’t have asked for a sweeter victory. Picking up the huge upset over the fifth best team in the nation, the University of North Carolina, Hofstra won 10-5.
The leader of the Pride’s offensive charge was senior attacker Sam Llinares, who netted five goals in the game. Junior Josh Byrne had an all-around solid Pride debut, with two assists to go along with four goals in the contest.
The win was Hofstra’s most notable since an 8-7 victory over then second-ranked Notre Dame in March of 2013. In that contest, the game winner was scored by none other than Llinares.
The first thing Hofstra head coach Sam Tierney had to say about his team in the postgame interview was how proud he was of the all-around great victory his team posted.
“It’s been a long two weeks coming off a subpar performance in our scrimmages, but they pulled themselves together and they practiced and played extremely hard,” said Tierney.
The coach would later address the talent of the Tar Heels, and how they have some guys on the field who can really “sling it.” At the end of the day, it is a true testament to how well this defense played against one of the top teams in the nation.
After Byrne’s goal just under three minutes into the game, the Tar Heels scored the equalizer with a nice shot from Chris Cloutier, with eight and a half minutes remaining in the first period. But it was all Hofstra from then on out, keeping their foot on the gas pedal and never turning back or giving the Tar Heels a chance to retaliate. After the tie, seven of the next nine goals that occurred in the game were scored by the Pride.
Hofstra outshot UNC on the day 35-25, and had a four shot advantage on shots on goal (20-16). Sophomore goalie, Jack Concannon had a terrific performance in goal for the Pride, 11 recorded saves and only allowed five goals against the high-octane Tar Heel offense.
For the Pride, it’s back to business as usual for Saturday, Feb. 27, the team’s home opener against the Princeton University Tigers. The game will be at 3 p.m.