By Anders Jorstad — STAFF WRITER
The Hofstra Pride men’s lacrosse team is off to an excellent start to the season.

Hofstra is 4-3 on the year after a recent loss against Providence College.

Despite being on a two-game skid, the schedule featured an impressive 10-5 win over No. 5 North Carolina early on and the Pride was ranked as high as eighth.

The Pride currently sits at 19th nationally in the most recent Inside Lacrosse poll.

A newcomer to the squad, Josh Byrne has led the Pride offense so far this season.

Byrne, a native of New Westminster, BC, Canada, comes to Hofstra via Nassau Community College after being named the NJCAA Attackman of the Year for the 2015 season.

“I wanted to go to Hofstra,” Byrne said of his recruiting process with the team.

“It’s right next to Nassau; I knew Coach Tierney well. Me and him had a good relationship. There wasn’t really any doubt in my mind that I was going to go to Hofstra.”

As a native of a town just barely north of the Washington state border, some may wonder how Byrne even heard about Nassau Community College in the first place.

“It’s a bit of a story,” Byrne said with a laugh. He had clearly been asked before.

“I went to a school called ASA in the city, one of my friends from my hometown went there, and he told me it was a good idea to go there because I wasn’t originally going to play college lacrosse. He said it
was a good idea so I said, ‘Alright, I’ll take him up on it.’”

It’s interesting that Byrne went from being unsure if he wanted to play lacrosse in college to leading one of the nation’s top programs in goals scored with 16.

Sam Llinares, last year’s CAA Player of the Year and Byrne’s teammate, has a record of 14.

When asked if he knew coming into the season that he was going to be a major part of the offense, Byrne replied, “I had no idea. I knew there was a lot of talent here.

“Obviously, no matter what team you’re on you have to work your way up. It doesn’t matter what your ranking or role is, you’re always going to start from the bottom.”

Byrne made his mark early on in that 10-5 victory over the Tar Heels, scoring the first two Pride goals of the season and finishing with four scores and a pair of assists.
Only three of Hofstra’s 10 goals weren’t in one way or another the product of Byrne’s play.

Byrne shined once again in the home opener against Princeton, when an overtime score by the attackman lifted Hofstra to an 11-10 win.

“I just want to keep this team going,” Byrne said of his season goals.

“I want us to have a really good season. That’s pretty much the main thing; I want us as a team to work hard every day no matter what the score is, no matter who we’re playing.

“I just want a good mentality and a good effort.”

Byrne and the rest of the Pride will face off against Vermont on Tuesday.

The game will start at 7 p.m. at James M. Shuart Stadium as Hofstra attempts to pick up its fifth win of the campaign.