The Hofstra University men’s lacrosse team saw their season end on Thursday, May 1, in the first round of the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) tournament. The Pride took the defending conference champions No. 14 Towson University to their limit, but the Tigers prevailed in an 11-10 overtime barnburner.

Despite the heartbreaking loss, a visibly emotional Hofstra head coach Seth Tierney is proud of his squad.

“I’m so proud of this team for what they overcame, they were picked sixth [in the preseason CAA poll] … [and] we just went toe-to-toe with a very good lacrosse team,” Tierney said.

The Pride took the field at Johnny Unitas Stadium looking to avenge their loss to the Tigers in the regular season’s final game on April 26. The tone was set early as Towson’s Mikey Weisshaar – the unanimous CAA offensive player of the year – opened the scoring not even 30 seconds into the game, but he was matched by John Madsen less than a minute later.

Towson threatened to blow the game open with three of the next four goals. Their lead could’ve been much larger than 4-2 if not for some spectacular saves from Shea Kennedy, who made a career high 19 stops in the season-ending defeat.

The future is bright for Hofstra both in net and with Drew Bogardus, who scored four goals on the day. The two freshmen tried to will the Pride to a victory on Thursday and should have an impact on the program for years to come.

“[Kennedy] redshirted last year,” Tierney said. “He got his first start at the beginning of the year and he’s a hell of a goalie … he played great … For [Bogardus] to have four and probably could’ve had one or two more … the future is bright.”

Towson head coach Shawn Nadelen was incredibly approving of the young goalkeeper.

“[Kennedy] played a phenomenal game; our guys did everything they could to crack the code,” Nadelen said.

Trevor Natalie brought the affair even about a minute into the second quarter on a shot from distance, and then the Pride grabbed their first lead of the afternoon from an unlikely source. Lorenzo Varona fired a shot home while running off balance to his left to put the Pride ahead 5-4.

The lead only lasted a minute as Weisshaar continued his assault on Hofstra’s defense by closing the first half with a game-tying goal and then opening the second with a go-ahead goal. Weisshaar is sixth in the CAA in points per game with 3.59 but he more than doubled his average, contributing eight points in the winning effort.

“Mikey Weisshaar had a great day today; he’s a hell of a player,” Tierney said.

After Weisshaar restored Towson’s lead, the Pride punched right back, scoring four consecutive goals and roaring out to a 9-6 lead, the largest lead for either team in the semifinals. Natalie completed his hat trick with the first and final goals of the run with two Bogardus goals sandwiched between them.

Towson slowly chipped away at their deficit, and eventually scored four straight of their own, with their lead being restored by, you guessed it, Weisshaar.

Trailing 10-9, Hofstra’s defense buckled down and prevented any more damage, but with time ticking away they couldn’t solve Towson’s defense, recording only three shots on goal in the quarter.

All the Pride needed was for one to go in and that’s exactly what the freshman sensation Bogardus did. Rory Jones launched a precise pass to Bogardus just outside of the crease and the All-CAA Rookie selection buried the chance, keeping Hofstra’s season alive to the end of the game.

Sadly for the Pride, Bogardus’ heroics only bought them another few minutes. In sudden death, Towson’s Josh Webber found Bode Maurer to his left, Maurer’s shot struck true and ended Hofstra’s 2025 campaign in heartbreak.

With the end of the season comes perhaps the hardest part of college athletics: bidding farewell to the senior class.

“This senior class … God, I love them, they did everything we’ve asked,” Tierney said. “The pain will go but I’m awfully proud of those guys in that locker room.”

After being away from the CAA tournament since 2021 the Pride made their return and proved that they belonged, even if they came up short.

“It’s been a tough couple of years and it’s not because of a lack of effort, the ball hasn’t bounced our way,” Tierney said. “We got into the tournament, and it was anybody’s game. This game could’ve gone either way … It wasn’t meant to be, but it wasn’t due to our effort or due to our energy. I was really proud to coach this team and share that sideline with this group of young men.”