The Hofstra University men’s lacrosse team punched their ticket to the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) tournament on Saturday, April 19, with a resounding 27-4 thumping of Hampton University. The Pride improved to an 8-5 overall with a 4-2 conference record and sit in a three-way tie for second place with Fairfield University and Drexel University. Meanwhile, Hampton is still searching for their first win since April 20, 2019, and fell to 0-14 this year.
Hofstra’s offensive output was historic, tying the program record for goals in a game with their 27 tallies. Saturday was the first time the record had been touched in over 50 years since a 1970 matchup against The City College of New York.
There were hat tricks galore for the Pride – Joey DeYoung and Anthony Laber both scored three times for the first time in their respective careers. They were joined by Drew Bogardus scoring his fifth hat trick of the year, Trevor Natalie’s sixth of the season as well as his career and Anthony Mollica’s fourth of the year and seventh overall.
Mollica exploded on Saturday with nine points, blowing past his prior career high of seven. His nine points are the most by a Hofstra player this season and the 16th most in a single game in program history, five of those points came on goals, which came with four assists, bringing his assist per game average to 1.69, second in the CAA. Mollica also now sits at third in the association in points per game with 3.62.
Bogardus contributed eight points. He and Mollica switched their traditional roles, while the typically pass-happy Mollica was the team’s best goal scorer, Bogardus played the distributor, adding five assists to his three goals. Bogardus is three spots behind Mollica in CAA point per game rankings with 3.15 per game.
Rounding out Hofstra players who take up space on the CAA leaderboards, Natalie poured in three goals and added a helper, he sits ninth in the conference on the point per game leaderboards, scoring 2.85 points per game.
The Pride’s offense was lethal top to bottom and buried Hampton in the first quarter, outscoring the Pirates 12-0 in the opening 15 minutes. By the time Hampton got on the board, they had already fallen behind 16-0.
While Shea Kennedy wasn’t tested – as the outcome was never really in doubt – he still put on a stellar performance, saving 10 out of the 14 shots he faced. The redshirt freshman has locked down the starting goaltender position, ranking top five in the CAA in goals against average, saves per game and save percentage.
While Hofstra has clinched their spot in the CAA tournament for the first time since 2021, there is still work to be done. Not only do the Pride have an opportunity to make a statement next Saturday against unbeaten Towson, but they still must fight for seeding. The Pride are currently in third place but are tied with Fairfield and Delaware. A loss could move them down to fourth, while a win and a Fairfield loss could move them up to second place.
The Pride will fight for seeding on Saturday, April 26, when they welcome the Tigers to Long Island, New York. Gametime is 4 p.m. from James M. Shuart Stadium.
