For the first time in school history, the Hofstra men’s lacrosse team moved to 7-0 on the season after an 11-9 victory over Stony Brook University on Tuesday night at James M. Shuart Stadium. The Seawolves dropped their third straight game, falling to 4-3.
Ryan Tierney scored four goals off five shots, his fourth hat trick of the season. Tierney bounced back after being held without a goal in the Pride’s last game against Providence. Jimmy Yanes also tallied a hat trick in the game, his second straight.
The Seawolves got on the board first, as Ryan Bitzer found the back of the net. Bitzer had two goals and four assists on the day. Three minutes later, Tierney tied the game up for the fifth-ranked Pride. Just under a minute later, Yanes scored to put Hofstra up 2-1. Alex Corpolongo knotted the game up for Stony Brook at 2-2 before the end of the first quarter.
Hofstra opened up the floodgates in the second quarter, as Josh Byrne, Yanes, and Brendan Kavanagh scored three unanswered to put the Pride up 5-2. Byrne finished the game with one goal and three assists. After the Seawolves’ Cory Vanginhoven cut the lead to two, Hofstra netted two more to enter halftime 7-3.
Stony Brook head coach Jim Nagle pulled starting goalie Brandon Maciejewski before the end of the half, as he let up seven goals with four saves. He was replaced by freshman Michael Bollinger, who finished the day with six saves and only four goals allowed in the second half.
For the Pride, Jack Concannon continued his dominant play, stopping 17 shots while letting in nine. This is the sixth time this season that the reigning CAA Player of the Week made double-digit saves.
The third quarter was no different; Hofstra scored three straight goals in a two-minute span to increase its lead. Tierney scored two straight man-up goals followed by Dylan Alderman netting his second of the day, putting Hofstra up 10-3. Bitzer cut the deficit to six with his ninth goal of the season.
However, Stony Brook refused to go down quietly heading into the final quarter of play as – for the second straight game – the Pride let up five goals in the final quarter.
Hofstra entered the fourth leading 11-5 against Providence last game. The Friars then scored five unanswered to bring the game within reaching distance. On Tuesday night, the Seawolves outscored the Pride 5-1 in the final period to almost make a successful comeback.
After Stony Brook scored three straight to cut Hofstra’s lead to 10-7, Tierney scored his fourth of the game to give Hofstra a four-goal lead and slow Stony Brook’s momentum. A minute later however, Tom Haun answered back with his second of the game for the Seawolves; Corpolongo scored his third with 1:23 left to cut the lead to two.
Time was not on the Seawolves’ side, as Hofstra managed to kill the rest of the clock without allowing another goal, closing out the latest edition of the “Battle of Long Island” with a hard-fought victory.
The Hofstra defense came up big throughout the game. The Seawolves went 3-of-9 on the man-up, including not converting on being up two players when down three goals in the fourth quarter.
Hofstra was outshot 37-36 and out-battled on groundballs by a 35-26 margin. However, the Pride received a lot of its offensive opportunities thanks to Kris Clarke’s outstanding work taking faceoffs. After returning against Providence and going 11-of-24, Clarke went 16-of-23 against the Seawolves, allowing the Pride to get the ball to the offense early and often.
Hofstra returns to action on Saturday, March 25, taking on another local rival in St John’s University. This will be the Pride’s last non-conference game before opening up CAA play at Fairfield the following weekend.
The opening faceoff for Hofstra’s clash with St. John’s is set for 7 p.m. at James M. Shuart Stadium.