A nightmare of a second quarter was too much to overcome for the Hofstra University men’s lacrosse team, falling to the Towson University Tigers 15-11 in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play on Saturday, April 6.
The Pride ended the game with a 6-0 run but came up short in their comeback attempt against the CAA’s top team. The Pride are now 4-7 on the season overall, with a 1-3 conference record. The Tigers improved to 8-3 winning their fourth straight game against CAA opponents.
John Madsen had a team-high four goals, reaching 30 goals on the season for the first time at Hofstra. Justin Sykes provided two goals with an assist while Griffin Turner was tied with a game-high six points on two goals and four assists.
Towson’s Chop Gallagher matched Turner’s six points with three goals and three assists, and Mikey Weisshaar led his side with four goals. Joaquin Villagomez and Bode Maurer put in multi-goal efforts as well for the Tigers with three and two goals, respectively.
Hofstra looked to be keeping up with Towson, scoring three straight goals in the first quarter after early in the quarter falling behind 2-0. Weisshaar’s first afternoon goal tied up the game before Jamison Gaskins’ third goal of the season gave the Tigers the lead with just 11 seconds left in the frame.
Towson went into the second quarter with momentum and capitalized on it, shutting out the Pride 8-0 as part of a 10-0 run, putting the Pride in a 12-3 hole by halftime.
John Recher was called for a two-minute unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for the Pride, which was directly followed by two Towson goals. Villagomez, who assisted on those first two goals, put the metaphorical nail in the coffin with three straight goals to close out the first half.
The Pride could only go up in the second half, outscoring the Tigers 8-3 over the final two quarters, but were battling on two fronts, fighting against the clock in the final minutes. Madsen brought the score to 15-10 with about 8 minutes remaining as Hofstra fought their way back.
Towson goalkeeper Luke Downs finished with 13 saves on the day with three of them coming down the stretch to cool down the Hofstra offense that was finally gaining some steam.
The Tigers will look to stay undefeated in CAA play as they travel to Virginia to take on Hampton University in their next match.
Hofstra will return home next week to kick off a three-game homestand as they face a steep uphill battle to reach the CAA Tournament. The Pride will host the Drexel University Dragons on Saturday, April 13, from James M. Shuart Stadium at 1 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Jon Reiss
