Saturday kicked off the first game of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) season for the Hofstra men’s lacrosse team as they traveled to Connecticut to take on the Stags of Fairfield University at Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium. Unfortunately for the Pride, the Stags snagged a 12-10 victory, as they now advance to 1-0 in conference play and 6-4 overall. The Pride fall to 0-1 in the conference and 4-7 overall. 

The game was explosive from the start, with both teams scoring seven goals in the first quarter. At 13:39 of the first quarter, Matt Elder struck first for the Pride, but the Stags came back and scored two goals immediately after, taking a three-minute lead. Then, at 8:43, Sam Lutfi tied it up, and after another Fairfield goal, Gerard Kane tied it up again. Finally, at 3:21 of the third quarter, Lutfi scored his second goal, putting the Pride up 4-3. 

In the second quarter, Kane scored the Pride’s following two goals, and Lutfi completed his hat-trick off an Elder assist to take a 7-4 lead. The Stags scored again in the quarter, and the teams went into halftime with Hofstra leading 7-5.

To get the third quarter started, Dylan McIntosh earned his first goal of the game, but the Stags scored three straight over the next 11 minutes, tying the game at 8-8 going into the fourth. With 10:19 left in the fourth, McIntosh scored his second of the day off a long assist from Tom Ford. Daniel Ochs scored his first goal of the season off a blocked Fairfield clear, giving Hofstra a two-goal lead. Fairfield went on a 4-0 run at the end of the game, including the game-winning goal with 1:21 left, to earn its first CAA victory since 2018.

With 18 saves versus Fairfield, Pride goalie Mac Gates set a new personal record, with six of them coming in the third quarter. Gerard Kane and Sam Lutfi had three goals and an assist, while Bryan McIntosh had four caused turnovers to lead all Hofstra players, and Chase Patterson had eight ground balls while going 12-24 in face-offs.

As part of their CAA schedule, the Pride will play the No. 17 Delaware on Saturday, April 9. The Pride and the Fightin’ Blue Hens will face off at 1 p.m. in Newark, Delaware.

Photo courtesy of Adam Flash/The Hofstra Chronicle