By Sean WilliamsASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
The men’s lacrosse team split a pair of away games this week, beating Delaware on Saturday 10-5 and losing to St. John’s 6-7. The split was frustrating for the talented Pride, who at this point expects to beat every team it faces.
Hofstra (5-2) traveled to Delaware first, facing a conference rival that has struggled this year but also possesses a dangerous offense.
Coach Seth Tierney called it “a trap game against a very good team,” adding that the narrow losses suffered by Delaware (2-6) made its record a deceiving one.
This was not a narrow loss, as the Pride played relentlessly after falling behind 2-1 early on. Eight straight goals from the Pride nullified any thoughts of a Delaware comeback.
“We got off to a little bit of a slow start but we started to chip away and chip away,” said Tierney. “Another good performance from our defense.”
Tierney went out of his way to praise the play of sophomore goalie Chris Selva.
Selva, with his 14 saves, was not the only Pride player to turn in a great performance. Senior Adrian Sorichetti had a tremendous breakout game with four goals and an assist after struggling for the first part of the season.
“The ball was irrelevant at times, it was a pretty strong-willed game out there,” said Tierney.
Coming off of a close upset over powerhouse Notre Dame, the Pride was bumped up to no. 7 in the country heading into its match against the St. John’s Red Storm.
Tuesday proved to be less friendly to Hofstra, as they lost a frustratingly close game to the nearby Johnnies.
With the score deadlocked at six apiece and about four minutes to play, the Pride could not hang on. Kevin Cernuto of the Red Storm scored the deciding goal.
Cernuto was a thorn in the side of the stout Pride defense, scoring three goals. Another St. John’s standout was senior goalie Jeff Lowman, who made a remarkable 19 saves.
Tierney called the game “a major disappointment” and said that St. John’s “played hungrier than us.”
The short turnaround between games was probably of no help to Hofstra, who was also missing starting attacker Lance Yapor, who suffered an injury during the Delaware game.
The match began in promising fashion for the Pride who had an early lead.
“4-2 at the half and… we couldn’t stretch out that lead,” Tierney said. “Shooting is part of the game and if you don’t finish, then your offense doesn’t play well.”
The Pride will hope to rebound from the loss as they host conference opponent Drexel on Saturday. The team is sure to drop in the polls after the loss to St. John’s but could redeem itself with a good performance in conference play.
“There’s one poll that matters, and that’s after Memorial Day weekend,” said Tierney. “Hopefully we can climb back up.”
