By Angelo Brussich , Assistant Sports Editor

After a record-tying goal output by the Hofstra University women’s lacrosse team against George Mason University, the Pride went on to split a two-game weekend slate with a loss to Towson and a win against Delaware.

Hofstra opened its weekend pair of games at Towson to take on a very powerful Tigers team. Hoping to build off of its 23 goal explosion against George Mason, the Pride instead found itself behind 2-0 early in the contest.

Hofstra coach Abby Morgan said of the slow start, “We just did not come out as strong as we need to in the beginning of the game… we did not do a good job from the start.”

Hofstra would battle back to tie the game up at two, but that was as close to the lead as it would get.

The Tigers went on a 7-2 run before the half would end, continuously thwarting any attempt by the Pride to mount a comeback while pulling away with a 9-4 lead at the break.

Towson sophomore attacker Andi Raymond had a very strong game, recording four goals and four assists in the game.

“She’s a great player, very quick,” said Morgan. “They’re such a one-v-one team and we tried to slow them down and they did combat that with some assists.”

Coming into the second half, Hofstra desperately needed to take the momentum of the game if it wanted to make a comeback, and it started off well; scoring two of the first three goals in the half. With the lead closed to 10-6, the Tigers would retake full control of the game using a 5-1 goal run to put away any chances of a Pride comeback and ultimately coming away with a 16-9 victory over Hofstra.

“We didn’t take advantage of the chances we had,” said Morgan.

The Pride was back at home at Shuart Stadium to take on the Delaware Blue Hens. Behind a four point performance from sophomore attack Lindsey McKinnon (three goals, one assist) and a four point performance from freshman midfielder Brittain Altomare, Hofstra was able to comeback from an early deficit.

After taking an early 2-0 lead, the Blue Hens battled back and knotted the game up at two. Altomare and junior attack Claire Brady both scored their second goals of the contest under two minutes apart to give Hofstra its second two point lead of the game. Delaware would come back again to tie it up though before the half on the strength of a three goals to one stretch.

The Blue Hens continued its hot streak to start off the second half and took its first lead of the game at 7-6. Then McKinnon took over for the Pride, scoring two goals back to back just over one minute apart to give Hofstra back the lead for good.

“She’s been up and down, she’s struggling with an injury,” said Morgan. “She hasn’t practiced in probably two or three weeks and she really just came on and you could see it right away her first drive just, ‘Oh, Lindsey’s on fire; let’s get her the ball’.”

The Blue Hens did not go lightly though, pulling to within one of with under 16 minutes to play. Hofstra was able to close this game out by scoring four of the last five goals in the game, sealing a 13-8 victory.

With the win Hofstra improves to 4-10, good for third in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) while improving its record to 3-2 in CAA play. The Pride will be back in action at home on Friday against Old Dominion at 4 p.m.

Sophomore midfielder Alex Mezzanotte (4) speeds away from the defense. (Cody Heintz/The Chronicle)