By Joe Pantorno, Assistant Sports Editor
After an 11-9 loss to the University of Massachusetts, Hofstra men’s lacrosse, no. 8 in the nation, was looking to steady its ship and achieve win number 500 in program history. The Pride would be looking to make history as it hosted the Black Knights of Army.
Though Army came into Tuesday’s matchup with a 3-4 record, the under .500 mark is deceiving. Army suffered an overtime loss to Cornell and posted strong outings against Syracuse and Rutgers. “You know what you will get with Army and that’s effort. Those guys play hard and they just don’t stop,” said Pride head coach Seth Tierney.
As soon as the whistle blew to signal the first faceoff, the Pride were able to tame the Black Knights. Hofstra was able to score six goals in the first quarter, while limiting Army to only 6 shots. The Pride finished the game outshooting Army 48-18. Army struggled all day to create offensive pressure and Hofstra freshman goalie Rob Bellairs and the rest of the Pride defense played well.
While an ankle injury kept junior attack Jay Card out of Saturday’s loss to UMass, the All-America candidate returned against Army and showed how important he is to the Pride. Card scored five goals and three assists in his return. In just his second game of the season after breaking his ankle, sophomore midfielder Kevin Ford added his first hat trick of the season to go along with two assists.
All throughout the game, Army’s defense was stuck deciding which of Hofstra’s dangerous attackers to focus on. When Card was double-teamed, Ford had opportunities as did juniors Jamie Lincoln and Stephen Bentz. “Ford is a great addition to our offense,” Card said. “He is one more option. He is executing and getting his goals so that frees space for me and Lincoln as well as [junior Stephen] Bentz.”
Along with Card and Ford, the scoring was spread to a few fresh faces. Freshmen midfielders Drew Coholan and Aaron Jones scored the first goals of their collegiate careers and sophomore Brad Loizeaux, Bentz, Lincoln and senior Dan Stein also scored in the matchup.
The drubbing left Army at 3-5 and lifted Hofstra to 5-2. The victory made the Pride only the fourteenth NCAA Division I lacrosse team to earn 500 wins. The Pride will take on no. 11 Drexel in Philadelphia, PA on April 3 in a conference matchup. The Pride will be searching for its first CAA win and program win 501.
