Following an 0-3 start to their season, the Hofstra men’s had a dominant 13-7 win over the LIU Sharks on Tuesday, Feb. 21.
“It’s good to win, thankful we got the W,” said Hofstra head men’s lacrosse coach Seth Tierney. “Certainly happy the way we got out after being 0-and-3 after playing some really good teams.”
The Pride won the initial draw control and converted that to a goal just over a minute and a half later courtesy of Justin Sykes. That was the start of a 3-0 scoring run for the next minute with the help of John Madsen and the first career goal of Dalton Seesz.
Four minutes into the game marked the fourth goal of the game by Madsen, his second in as many minutes. Soon after, Rory Jones made his way to the scoresheet with his fifth goal of the year in a man-up advantage.
With less than six minutes to go in the opening quarter, Madsen completed a hat trick with an unassisted goal at nearly point-blank range.
The Pride went on defense for a change, successfully running the Sharks to the edge of the shot clock. A loose ball meant another scoring opportunity for Hofstra, and that’s exactly what Gerard Kane capitalized on.
With 1.6 seconds to go, Matt Elder found the back of the net to end the frame up 8-0.
LIU opened the second quarter with a vengeance with an unassisted Marcin Maleski goal three minutes in, his first of the season.
After another defensive stalemate, the Hofstra’s Griffin Turner punched through and netted his fifth goal of the season. Kane brought a new level of energy to the pitch when he netted his goal, putting the team into double digits on the scoreboard.
In an attempt to salvage the score, LIU’s Nick Colantonio got a goal past Hofstra goalie Mac Gates, but it was futile as the score was 10-2 going into the locker rooms.
The third quarter told a completely different tale. For starters, LIU scored three goals in five minutes. Maleski proved how much trouble he is, and James Butler added salt to the wound to make the score 10-4. Jake Gillis had the same idea, given his goal in the man-up opportunity for his first goal of the day.
It was at that point, though, that Hofstra put the brakes on the Sharks when Kane completed his hat trick with just over four minutes to go to finish the third period 11-5.
Pride’s Jones took the reins in the fourth period with his second goal of the game but was given a speedy response by LIU’s Owen Stefanko and Maleski’s completed hat trick, reflected as 12-7 on the scoreboard.
Hofstra’s Colton Rudd rounded out the scoring, putting the ceiling on the scoring at 13-7.
Hofstra returns to the field on the road against the St. John’s Red Storm on Saturday, Feb. 25, at 1 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Evan Bernstein/Hofstra Athletics
