By Doug Bonjour
For the first time in 11 months, a different mood encompassed coach Seth Tierney and his Hofstra men’s lacrosse team following a one-goal game. Looks of disappointment and frustration which filled the faces of so many coaches and players after last season’s NCAA-record seven one-goal losses were replaced with smiles following Hofstra’s 7-6 win over Brown on Saturday.
“We had a long time to find out what it’s like to win a one-goal game,” said Tierney, who last coached his team to a one-goal win on April 14, 2007, when the Pride defeated Colonial Athletic Conference-rival Towson 9-8.
Whether it is a one-goal win or a five-goal win, what counts is that the Pride now find themselves in the win column for the first time in 2008.
“I’m really happy for our guys. It was a hard-fought game; it was a game of runs,” said Tierney.
The Pride entered the game at 0-1 on the season as a result of their 8-4 loss at Massachusetts on Feb. 24, but they remained confident and were not going to be outdone by their Ivy League competitor.
“Our team had a chip on our shoulder, and we had something to prove. We won a one-goal game this year, unlike last year, and felt pretty confident coming into this game,” said Kevin Ford, a freshman attackman.
Ford certainly displayed this confidence and caused frustration for defenders throughout Saturday’s win, as the talented freshman scored three goals and registered a game-high six shots on net.
Ford was not the only freshman to contribute in the victory, as attackman Jay Card, who was playing with a slight shoulder separation which he suffered in the season-opener against Massachusetts, recorded one assist.
These strong performances came on a day in which Tierney said his freshman needed to “play like juniors.”
However, while Tierney remained pleased with the improved play from the team’s youngsters, he did not rush to call the performances a step-up.
“I don’t want to use the word up. We stepped. We still have got a long way to go,” he said.
Along with Ford, junior attackman Tommy Dooley, sophomore midfielder Tom Interlicchio, and senior midfielder Michael Unterstein led an offensive attack which pressured the Brown net endlessly. In all, the Pride out-shot Brown 37-19.
The game also proved to be a step in the right direction for the Hofstra defense, which stymied Brown for most of the day. Besides scoring four goals in the second quarter, the Brown offense was unable to muster a legitimate attack. Tierney credited the solid defense to good preparation and overall improved play.
“Defensively, we were working on a lot of the things they did against Lehigh, in the scouting report. Danny Orlando came up with a couple of saves for us. Guys just did their job,” he said.
Even though the Pride defense had a minor lapse in the second quarter, the team’s leaders directed the ship.
“I was disappointed in the second quarter, but we made some adjustments, and the game slowed down for us a little bit in the second half and we had some leaders converge. I can’t tell you how important leadership is,” said Tierney.
Hofstra’s leaders will have to converge again on Saturday, as the Pride face their toughest test of the season to-date. The Pride square off against defending national champion and top-ranked Johns Hopkins for a 1 p.m. start at Shuart Stadium.