Following two losses to start off the regular season, the Hofstra men’s lacrosse team were finally able to stick a win under their belt, beating Long Island rival Stony Brook University 14-2 on Tuesday night.
After two games against top-10 opponents resulted in relatively low-scoring performances, the first win of the season for the Pride came in dominant fashion, scoring nearly twice the amount of goals that they did in the first couple games combined.
“It was the first time that we played a complete game,” said Hofstra men’s lacrosse head coach Seth Tierney.
Hofstra outshot Stony Brook 44-20, with 21 shots on goal compared to Stony Brook’s five.
Ryan Tierney scored a career-high seven points, consisting of five goals and two assists while Dylan Alderman also set a career high with five assists, scoring a goal as well. Four of Tierney’s five goals came on Alderman assists, displaying the connection a year of playing together provides.
“I think the chemistry is pretty good. Playing last year and this year, we kind of got to know each other’s games a lot more. He knows I like to pass. I love finding him wide open because he’ll knock it down,” Alderman said.
The big night for Hofstra didn’t take long to get going, with only 46 seconds ticking off the clock before Tierney hit the back of the net for the first time.
The Pride goal was one of five in an action-packed first half that also featured the first two career goals for freshman Dominic Pryor.
Hofstra’s momentum flowed into the second half, where they doubled their first half score with five goals in the third period alone, followed by four more in the fourth.
Defensively, the Pride kept the Seawolves in check, only allowing two goals to sneak in; in the final minutes of the first half, and in the first few minutes of the second.
Both goals came from Chris Pickel, Stony Brook’s leading scorer who has eight on the season.
With the big win against the local rival Seawolves, Hofstra has a game to build off of in the early part of the season.
“It’s a huge game on the schedule every year. It doesn’t matter what place we’re in or what place they’re in,” Coach Tierney said. “I’m glad we got out of here with a win.”
Now 1-2, Hofstra will look to climb to .500 when the undefeated Hoyas of Georgetown University come to Shuart Stadium in search of their sixth win of the season.
The game will take place on Saturday, March 3 at 1 p.m.
