On Saturday afternoon, April 16, following the women’s lacrosse game, the men competed against Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) opponent Drexel University at James M. Shuart Stadium for the second half of the home double-header. Junior Mac Gates was an anchor in goal and earned 15 saves, including eight in the first half. Still, the Pride was defeated by the Dragons 10-7. Hofstra falls to 5-8 overall and 1-2 in conference play, while Drexel improves to 6-5 overall and 2-1 against CAA opponents.
“I don’t feel like we played our best game,” said Seth Tierney, the Hofstra head coach. “Doesn’t take anything away from Drexel; they’re a well-coached team.”
Hofstra had seven different goal scorers in today’s game, with Sam Lutfi and Gerard Kane scoring two points, from one goal and one assist, each. Rory Jones, Ryan Sheridan, Justin Sykes and Colton Rudd also scored for the Pride. Tom Ford and Dylan McIntosh each provided an assist.
From the very start, Gates had an incredible save as the ball bounced off his stick to the far left side of the field. The Dragons tried their best for another quick goal but fell short, giving Gates two consecutive saves. Gates’ 15 saves gave him his 11th game this season with double-digit stops.
Shortly after, the Dragons scored the game’s first two goals. Defensively, the Pride stood tall, causing a turnover, and providing Griffin Turner with his first goal of the game, off of an assist from Dylan McIntosh, at the 11:32 mark. Three minutes later, Drexel made it 3-1, but 30 seconds after that, Lutfi finished off a pass from Ford for a fast-break goal, bringing the score to 3-2 after the first quarter.
The second quarter was nearly scoreless until Drexel’s Casey Waller scored with under four minutes until halftime. Almost three minutes later, Kane scored his 19th goal of the season, unassisted. After that, there was much back and forth action, until the Dragons’ Ryan Genord scored the last goal of the quarter with five and a half seconds left on the clock, putting Drexel in the lead 5-3.
In the second half, the Dragons took control of the game with a four-goal surge in the first seven minutes of the third quarter. In the final 6:22 of the quarter, Hofstra scored three straight goals to cut the deficit to three. Jones scored his 16th goal of the season to start the streak, followed by Sykes’ 10th and Rudd’s sixth.
With 8:46 left in the fourth quarter, Sheridan scored his ninth goal of the season to get the Pride to within two goals, but a goal by the Dragons with 6:00 left in the game restored Drexel’s three-goal lead.
With only two games left in the conference, the Pride is now in a challenging position. “It’s been a little up and down, and some of it is we’ve had inconsistent lineup changes and things along those lines,” Tierney said. “We played some really good teams, but there’s no getting around it. We need to harness that and try to be more competitive all the way through.”
On Saturday, April 23, the Pride will welcome the University of Massachusetts for their final home game of the season as CAA play comes to a close. Opening face-off is set for 1 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Jon Reiss/Hofstra Athletics
