The Hofstra University men’s lacrosse team dropped their matchup against No. 19 Fairfield University 14-10 on Saturday, April 5. The loss dropped Hofstra to 3-1 in conference play, tying them for second in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) with Fairfield and trailing Towson University who’s in first. The Stags have beaten Hofstra four consecutive times dating back to 2022.
The Pride were stuck playing catch up after turning the ball over 15 times in the first half. Hofstra ended the afternoon with a season high 23 turnovers compared to Fairfield’s 16. Rory Thompson caused four of those turnovers for Fairfield.
Rory Jones led the Hofstra offense with five goals while Joey DeYoung put two shots behind Fairfield’s Owen Hirsch as well. For the Stags, Devin Lampron and Luke Okupski both notched hat tricks en route to the victory.
Fairfield put the pressure on Hofstra immediately by breaking the scoreless tie under two minutes into the game. The Stags built upon that lead later in the quarter with KJ Delane’s third tally of the season.
The Pride’s offense was stuck in neutral because of the tenacious Fairfield defense. Hofstra had a season-high eight turnovers in the first quarter, four were caused by Fairfield and four were unforced errors. The Pride also had trouble clearing the ball. Hofstra went 5-8 on clears in the first quarter and 0-2 in the second quarter.
The field continued to tilt in Fairfield’s favor in the second quarter. Fairfield outscored the Pride 7-3 in the second frame. Jones got Hofstra onto the scoresheet nearly four minutes into the quarter.
After falling down 7-1, Jones and Trey Parkes also found a goal for Hofstra. Jake Gilbert and Matt Rice went back-to-back ending the first half 9-3 Fairfield.
The Pride fought back in the second half with a much better effort. The third quarter was Hofstra’s best. The Pride remedied the issues from the first half, only committing a single turnover and went 7-7 on clears in the third stanza. Okpuski got the first goal of the half, but after that, Hofstra struck. Anthony Mollica got on the board, cutting the Stags lead to five. Mollica, who is the reigning CAA offensive Player of the Week, scored a goal and dished out three assists.
Hofstra goaltender Shea Kennedy stood tall in the loss, making 13 saves on 27 shots on goal.
DeYoung got both of his goals in the third quarter. John Madsen found the back of the net to cut Fairfield’s lead to 11-7 after 45 minutes.
In the fourth quarter, Trevor Natalie brought the Pride within three. Fairfield and Hofstra traded blows in the fourth quarter with both scoring three times. Fairfield held on, defeating the Pride 14-10.
The Pride have a week off before hosting Drexel University on Saturday, April 12, at 1 p.m. Hofstra dropped the matchup last year by a single goal which led to Drexel making the CAA tournament over Hofstra. The Pride are looking to make the CAA tournament for the first time since 2021.
