By Andrew Scharff
The scene at James M. Shuart Stadium was all too familiar for Pride fans on Tuesday night. Up by three goals midway through the fourth quarter, Hofstra was unable to hold the lead as Stony Brook scored four straight goals enabling the Seawolves to sneak out of Hempstead with a 13-12 overtime win.
Stony Brook junior midfielder Owen Adams (4 goals) scored the game tying goal with 10 seconds left in regulation, as well as the game winner 1:49 into overtime. Tommy Dooley led the Pride by scoring five goals and senior attackman Ryan Miller tallied a career best five assists.
With the loss Hofstra snaps their four game losing streak and will in all likelihood they lose the moniker of being the 20th ranked team in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association poll. The most alarming stat is the loss is Hofstra’s sixth one-goal loss of the season, which something that Hofstra head coach Seth Tierney is trying to fix.
“Nothing very nice,” said Tierney about what he said to his team. “Because we have to learn how to finish things. We are great at starting things and we are not good at finishing things. And in order to be a great team and to be playoff team, you have to be able finish things.”
If there is a good side about this loss is that it isn’t a conference loss. But Tierney only sees it from side of the fence. “It’s loss. I am not in this for losses or ties,” said Tierney. “[We] knew they were going to be a tough opponent. Stony Brook wanted it more. There I said it, and know I have to fix it.”
But if you saw the first quarter you were probably wondering how Hofstra lost the game. In the first quarter Hofstra had a commanding lead in all the major statistical categories. They were dominating the face-off x, they were out ground balling Stony Brook and they were firing more rubber than the Seawolves, the only thing that was close was the only stat that mattered which was the score.
With score tied 4-4, Hofstra looked like they were running away with game. Midway through the second quarter Hofstra scored three goals (two from Dooley and one from Dan Stein who added a hat trick) and with five minutes to go Hofstra was holding on to a 7-4 lead.
But the Seawolves would not quit. They got all three goals back as they tied the game at 7 as midfielder Rhys Duch tied with no time left on the clock.
The same thing happened in the third quarter. With Hofstra down 9-8, the Pride scored the next four goals of the game. But with 5 minutes and 10 seconds left, Stony Brook would start a comeback.
Mike Palmer (2 goals) made it 12-10, and then Duch scored his second goal of the game to make it 12-11. As the clock crept closer to zero, it looked like the Pride would sneak out with a win. But with 17 seconds left on clock, Pride defenseman Connor Hagans got control of loose ball and then turned over to Adams who beat Pride goalie Danny Orlando (10 saves) from 12 yards out.
In overtime, Stony Brook got the first chance but could not convert. Tierney then called timeout to draw what they hoped would be the final play of the game.
“We put a play in. Mike Unterstein had the ball in his stick. The play was designed for Tom Dooley. I don’t think I was going to fool anyone in the stands with that. It got checked away from them,” Tierney said.
As Dooley was trying to save the play, he turned the ball over to Seawolves defender Jason Joiner, who got the ball to Adams who beat Orlando from 14 yards out on a low bounce shot.
“It got deflected and at first I bobbled it and once I got a hold of it, I tried moving it along to Mike Colleluori, but I didn’t see the defenseman coming from behind me. He intercepted, ran it down then gave it to their offense,” said Dooley about the games final moments.
Hofstra (3-2, 6-6) now must win their season finale against Drexel on Saturday afternoon or their season is done. If they win they become the second, third or fourth seed in the CAA tournament, but they can also not even get a chance to participate in the tournament.
If they win, the Pride will get the second seed. A loss coupled with a Delaware and/or Villanova win means their season is over. If they lose the only way they could still make is if Robert Morris and Sacred Heart both win. But Tierney and Co. knows that they control their own destiny.
“Basically we know at this point it’s a one game season. It’s one and done and know one on this team wants to stop right now, especially for the seniors,” said Dooley “They put a lot into this program and we want to keep it rolling as long as we can for them.”
If Tom Dooley and the Pride have any shot at making the CAA playoffs, the team will need to step up mentally.