By Sean Williams – STAFF WRITER
Hofstra men’s lacrosse early season struggles continued with a 13-11 road loss to Georgetown, as the Pride could not overcome the Hoyas opening four-goal run despite Mike Malave’s seven points.
“We dug ourselves a hole we couldn’t get out of. We’re making some mistakes during the course of games at different times that we’re trying to prevent. It’s an IQ thing. We’ve got to become a smarter team,” head coach Seth Tierney said, after the loss.
Sam Llinares added two goals and three assists for the Pride, but Hofstra’s defense again had difficulties with penalties and the Pride couldn’t prevent Georgetown’s Bo Stafford from racking up five points of his own.
The game began poorly for the Pride, with a variety of Georgetown players tallying up goals on an overwhelmed Chris Selva. But Hofstra rallied behind Malave and Llinares, as well as heads-up play from LSM Ryan Rielly.
“The effort was there, I thought we turned it on a little bit more later in the game, which upsets me because we need to put it on earlier and leave it on,” Tierney said.
Selva showed improvement in goal, making 15 saves to 13 goals and causing a turnover. But Hofstra overall was outhustled on ground balls, losing the loose ball battle 43-32 and giving the Hoyas plenty of opportunities to shoot. The Pride also had difficulties in man-up situations on both sides of the field, allowing Georgetown to go 3-7, including two situations where the Pride went down two men, while Hofstra was 2-6.
“Our man-up can’t be 33 percent. We got to be 50 percent. If we’re 50 percent or more then maybe the game changes a little bit,” Tierney said.
Malave was a bright spot for the Pride, as the senior continued his solid final season with five goals and two assists, a career high in points. Malave and Llinares account for nearly half of Hofstra’s overall points on the entire season.
“Michael is a guy that’s worked on his shot every summer and every chance he gets, and when he unleashes one he’s done a pretty good job for us this year. Him and Ryan Rielly from that senior class stepped up today,” Tierney said.
Similar to the away game against Princeton University last week, Hofstra faltered in the third quarter, going down 10-7. A late surge in the fourth was not enough, and Tierney’s team must face another slow start.
The loss dropped the Pride to 1-3 on the season.
“We’re a little banged up [on defense] there’s no getting around it, but that’s no excuse. We need guys to step up and be as disciplined as they can,” Tierney said after the game in reference to his inexperienced and struggling defensive side.
The Pride will travel to Columbus, Ohio to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes next week.
