Bad passes and few shot attempts were issues for the Hofstra men’s lacrosse team as it was defeated by the U.S. Naval Academy 13-6 at James M. Shuart Stadium on Friday, Feb. 18.
The Pride entered Friday night’s game against the Navy Midshipmen looking to extend its winning streak to three games. These two teams hadn’t played each other since 1999.
The night started with a faceoff win for Navy. After both teams had a possession, the Midshipmen broke the ice in the scoring column when Patrick Skalniak found the back of the net giving his team a one goal lead. Several minutes later he assisted Jack Sweeney for their team’s second goal of the night.
The Pride’s offense was stagnant throughout the opening minutes, but with 5:52 remaining, Matt Elder broke through, adding his first goal of the night and bringing Hofstra back to within one point.
After a faceoff violation on Hofstra and several shot attempts by Navy, Dane Swanson brought the Midshipmen’s lead back to two goals, and one minute later Henry Tolker brought it to three.
Both teams traded possessions as the Midshipmen led 4-1 heading into the second quarter.
After the Pride won the faceoff starting the second, a penalty on Navy helped create an extra-man opportunity for Hofstra, but a turnover helped the Midshipmen chew the clock until it was even strength. After that, Max Hewitt notched his first goal of the season for Navy, expanding the lead to four.
The Midshipmen continued their scoring run with Skalniak and Hewitt each adding another goal as Navy led by six going into halftime, 7-1.
The Pride’s offense was stagnant throughout the first 30 minutes. The team was outshot, 24-13, and had 13 ground balls to the Midshipmen’s 20, along with leading in the turnover column 10-7.
The third quarter didn’t start well for Hofstra as Tolker added his second goal of the night within the first nine seconds, ballooning Navy’s lead to seven.
After the Pride won the following faceoff, Elder notched his second goal of the game and was followed up by Dylan McIntosh bringing Hofstra to within five with 11:11 remaining.
The score remained 8-3 for several minutes as both teams traded possessions. With a few minutes left in the third, the Midshipmen went on a three-goal run with Swanson, Tolker and Dom Cole finding the back of the net, bringing Navy’s lead to eight heading into the fourth quarter.
Scoring started in the fourth with a goal from Rory Jones bringing the Pride back to within seven. He was followed up by a goal from Justin Sykes and Elder’s third goal of the night bringing the score to 11-6.
Swanson answered the Pride’s three-goal run with two of his own as Navy defeated Hofstra 13-6.
Elder led the Pride in scoring with three goals. Chase Patterson led the team in ground balls with eight, while going 12-18 in the faceoff circle. Brian McIntosh led the Pride with two caused turnovers. Hofstra was 0-3 in man-up situations on the night.
“We got beat today,” said Pride head coach Seth Tierney. “We got beat in a lot of areas. I thought we did a better job in the second half, but we made a lot of mistakes today.”
Hofstra led the night in turnovers with 24. “We’re not going to win any games doing that. We had some early turnovers. We had turnovers on the perimeter. We lost a bunch of possessions today and when you play against a team like that, we needed every one of those possessions,” Tierney said.
The Pride looks to Friday, Feb. 25, when Hofstra will host the Long Island Cup and face the Long Island University Sharks. The winner will take on the winner of Stony Brook University versus St. John’s University in the championship game.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
