Despite a final-period push from the Tigers, the Hofstra men’s lacrosse team came out victorious Saturday at Princeton University, knocking off the Tigers 10-8 for its second win of the season.

Coming into the day, both Hofstra and Princeton were undefeated in their early season match-ups.

Hofstra held a strong lead for most of the match. Freshman Ryan Tierney earned the first goal of the game for the second consecutive matchup, this time around the seven-minute mark. Princeton tied it up soon after, but senior Josh Byrne scored to put the Pride in the lead with just two seconds left in the first period.

A pair of unanswered goals from junior Alex Moeser stretched the Pride’s lead further in the second period.

Coming out of halftime, junior Brendan Kavanagh got the ball from Byrne to score five minutes into the third period. Princeton managed two more goals nearly back-to-back within the last three minutes of the third.

Byrne was quick to answer the Tiger’s goals, though. His second goal of the match gave the Pride a 6-3 lead at the end of the third period.

Princeton turned up the heat coming into the fourth period. The Tigers’ Michael Sowers scored twice within the first five minutes of play to shorten the Pride’s lead to one goal. Hofstra was quick to answer back with a goal from freshman Kyle Gallagher.

The Tigers did not back down, however, scoring again just a minute after Gallagher’s goal. Princeton continued to play catch up, but the Pride managed to stretch its lead with two goals from sophomore Jimmy Yanes. The Tigers could not surpass this two-goal deficit with just five minutes left to play.

Byrne’s hat-trick capper with just under a minute left to play was the Pride’s last goal of the game. Princeton attempted to bounce back with another goal from Sowers but it was too late. The Pride maintained possession for the last minute of play, not allowing Princeton to squeeze in any more goals before time ran out.

Byrne continued to lead in points, scoring three times and racking up two assists. Tierney was close behind with three points this match, scoring once and assisting twice. Moeser and Yanes both earned two goals for the Pride, and Kavanagh and Gallagher earned a goal apiece.

The Pride outshot Princeton 40-29. Junior goalie Jack Concannon racked up 10 saves.

Hofstra is now 2-0 for the season, while Princeton is 2-1. The Pride takes the field again this Tuesday, Feb. 28, to host the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Opening face-off is at 7 p.m. at James M. Shuart Stadium.