The Hofstra men’s lacrosse team powered its way to a streak of a 4-0 record with an impressive 11-9 win over Georgetown University on Saturday in Washington, D.C. Freshman Ryan Tierney and junior Brendan Kavanagh each set career highs with four goals apiece, while goalie Jack Concannon set his career high with 17 saves.
Hofstra improved to 4-0 to start the season for the first time in six years, when Hofstra started 5-0 and went on to post a 13-3 record. Meanwhile, Georgetown slipped to an unexpected 0-4.
Kavanagh was on fire throughout the contest, putting up goals in the first and second quarter, before scoring the final two goals of the game that would ultimately seal a Pride victory.
This was a very even contest with neither team able to fully pull away. There were six ties and three lead changes throughout, but no lead change was more important than Hofstra’s late second quarter surge.
Down 6-5 with 3:54 left in the second quarter, Hofstra’s offense caught fire. Senior defender Michael Diener scored the first goal of his career to tie the game up and Tierney put in two goals in the final 2:32 to give Hofstra a boost going into halftime and an 8-6 lead.
Tierney upped his point total to 17 for the season and is certainly making a case to be an early favorite for the CAA Rookie of the Year award.
“Two late goals at the end of the half gave us some energy at halftime and it turned out we needed those two goals,” said Hofstra head coach Seth Tierney after the contest.
For all the offensive star power shown off in this game, goalie Concannon had one of the best games of his career. In the first half alone he played out of his mind and had 14 saves.
Though he allowed nine goals, the preseason third-team All-American broke his career high with 17 saves total, stopping the Georgetown Hoyas time and time again.
Georgetown outshot Hofstra 43-34 and had more time of possession with the ball, beating Hofstra in faceoffs 17-7. This made Concannon’s role as a stopper especially important considering the high amount of clean shots the Georgetown attack got off.
Though Hofstra allowed a ton of shots in the contest, their defense tightened up in the fourth quarter; holding Georgetown scoreless in the frame while only allowing eight shots, only one of which was on goal.
Hofstra is looking good this season after four solid wins against mostly quality opponents. Three of those Pride victories have come by two goal margins, creating a strong feeling that the Pride has figured out a winning formula even against tough competition.
Hofstra will hope to keep the momentum going as the Pride travels to Chapel Hill to face the defending champion University of North Carolina (4-1) next Saturday.