Hofstra men’s lacrosse took down St. John’s University 9-6 Saturday night at James M. Shuart Stadium, extending their school record start to 8-0.
Josh Byrne put on a show with two brilliant early assists and two fourth quarter goals that sealed the victory. Alex Moeser and Ryan Tierney added two goals of their own – with Tierney dodging heavy traffic on both – to help the Pride win what was a chippy affair.
With the victory, the Pride finished its nonconference slate undefeated, yet Hofstra still feels they have room to improve.
“The cool part about it is that we haven’t necessarily played our best lacrosse and we are still 8-0,” Byrne said, after the game. “There’s so many things we need to clean up offensively, defensively. At 8-0 we’re fortunate, but we’re a long way from perfect.”
Hofstra, now second in the National Rating Percentage Index (RPI) ranking, was the heavy favorite against a St. John’s team coming in with a 1-6 record, but this was no cakewalk. The Pride was held to its lowest scoring output of the season.
Hofstra was limited to only 18 shots on the game while their opponent put up 24 shots.
St. John’s struck first early in the game when Nick Heller’s shot sailed over Hofstra goalie Jack Concannon’s stick just 1:19 into the game, setting the tone that the Red Storm had come to play.
Hofstra answered with three goals to end the first quarter, the latter two coming off assists from Byrne on nearly identical plays. Moeser and Tierney both wrapped around the crease, received a bullet pass and dumped the ball in for a score with St. John’s defense unable to adjust.
The Red Storm was not ready to go away, however, as they marched back in the second quarter with two goals to tie the game at 3-3. St. John’s dominated the time of possession for most of the first half, frustrating Hofstra with patience on offense until the Pride broke through with two goals in the final 1:37 of the half.
Hofstra’s offense again was mostly limited in the third quarter until they broke through with two goals in two minutes with Dylan Alderman scoring one and assisting on the other to push the lead to 7-4 heading into the final frame.
In the first minute of the frame, Byrne, the Tewaaraton Award Watch List selection, showed exactly why he is on that list with an incredibly impressive showcase. With a series of jukes, Byrne split two defenders and while falling down, ripped an underhanded shot into the top right corner of the net. The impressive shot sent Hofstra’s bench into a frenzy of celebration and had the crowd in awe.
St. John’s scored two goals to close the gap to 8-6, but Byrne scored again on an open net with 27 seconds left to seal the deal.
Hofstra is next in action against Fairfield University in Connecticut Saturday at 7 p.m. to open Colonial Athletic Association play.
