In front of nearly 1,000 fans at James M. Shuart Stadium, the Hofstra University men’s lacrosse team defeated their Long Island rival Stony Brook University 13-12 in double overtime on Saturday, March 15. The win catapulted the Pride to a 5-2 record overall and a 1-0 start to Coastal Athletic Conference (CAA) games. Hofstra has won three consecutive overtime games.

John Madsen played hero for Hofstra after scoring two special goals. His first goal was the 100th point of his collegiate career and his second goal was the double overtime game winner.

The game became an instant classic between the conference rivals as there were six lead changes and neither team eclipsed more than a two-goal lead at any point in the contest. Stony Brook led Hofstra 10-8 entering the fourth quarter, but the Pride scored four of the next six goals including the equalizer from Drew Bogardus with under two minutes remaining to force overtime.

In the overtime frame, Bogardus was guilty of a tripping penalty and Stony Brook received a one-minute player up opportunity. Hofstra’s defense held strong and the Seawolves turned the ball over on a bad pass. The Pride fought hard to bring the game to double overtime where they had all three shots on goal. Madsen found the winner a minute into the second overtime period.

“It’s an ecstatic win for our program, our university [and] our team,” said Hofstra head coach Seth Tierney. “I know we were down with three minutes to go and there was just no shake to us. We remained calm and fought our way back into it.”

Anthony Mollica joined Madsen as one of the stars of the game. Mollica scored the first three goals of the game for Hofstra and added an assist on Madsen’s game winning goal.

Hofstra and Stony Brook traded blows through the early going with the Pride taking a 4-2 lead after the first quarter and a 6-5 lead at the half. The Seawolves led in the game for the first time at the three-minute mark of the third quarter with a goal from Ryan Barker. Stony Brook held onto the lead until Bogardus tied the game.

The Pride’s ability to turn defense into offense was crucial after a poor performance in the faceoff dot. Hofstra won 11-30 faceoffs, good for a 37% clip, but they forced a couple of turnovers off the draws to even up the possessions.

“The faceoff is a work in progress,” Tierney said. “We pulled a few away that get stated for them, but we ended up playing offense for that possession.”

The Pride controlled the ball well, turning the ball over nine times compared to Stony Brooks 14. The Pride caused nine turnovers while Stony Brook caused just one. Hofstra did not turn the ball over in either overtime frame.

“It’s a tie breaking win,” Tierney said. “That’s a team you could be tied up within six weeks. These games are enormous, carrying a loss after your first CAA makes the weight a lot heavier for your next one.”

The Pride continued their CAA conference slate on Saturday, March 22, against Monmouth University. Faceoff was scheduled for noon.