The Hofstra University men’s lacrosse team fell 16-9 to No. 13 Yale University on Tuesday, April 14, at James M. Shuart Stadium. The Pride fell to 3-9 in their final non-conference game of the season, concluding their out-of-conference record at 2-6.
Hofstra senior Trevor Natalie scored a hat-trick, his fourth of the season and first since Feb. 28 at Rutgers University. Natalie leads the team this season with 28 goals and is second in points with 31 this season. He is six points shy of 100 in his career.
Yale had a trio of players record three goals: Sean Grogan, Cole Cashion and William Sheehan. Nine players recorded a point each for the Bulldogs, and Connor Gately scored a game-high six points on two goals and four assists. The sophomore leads the Ivy League in assists with 29.
From the get-go, Yale established that they were the dominant team. Sheehan scored a behind-the-back goal less than two minutes into the game. The Bulldogs tested Hofstra goalie Shea Kennedy early, forcing the sophomore netminder to see four shots on goal in the opening four minutes. Asher Ziv doubled the Bulldogs’ lead before Natalie scored for the Pride.
From there, Yale tallied six of the next seven goals, putting the Pride in an 8-2 hole after the first quarter.
Hofstra bounced back in the second quarter, though, outshooting Yale 3-0 in the frame. Gus Langtry, John Hicks and Anthony Mollica all hit the nylon, cutting Yale’s half-time lead to just three goals.
Yale reestablished their dominance in the third quarter. They belted the Pride 6-1, sinking all hope that Hofstra had left.
Despite the score, the Pride outshot the Bulldogs in the game 49-38, but Yale made their shots count. They lead in shots on goal 31-23. Hofstra had a season-low shots-on-goal percentage of 47%, making Yale goalkeeper Ben Friedmen’s job easier.
Yale also dominated in the faceoff X. Faceoffs have been the Pride’s Achilles heel all season; having won just 37% of draws. Yale held Hofstra to their season-low four wins on 28 faceoffs.
Hofstra played Yale in 2024 and 2025 and lost both games by two and three goals, respectively. The Pride dropped to 4-11 against the Bulldogs all-time, having not beaten them since 1995.
The Pride are 1-3 in Coastal Athletic Association play and are currently tied for fifth in the conference. Hofstra was back in action on Saturday, April 18th at 1 p.m. The Pride took on Hampton University on Senior Day for their final home game of the season.
Hampton is 0-5 in conference play and winless this season. In order for the Pride to make the conference tournament, they will need to win out over Hampton and No. 17 Towson University as well as have Fairfield University beat Monmouth University on Saturday, April 25.
