Ryan Tierney recorded six goals in his record-setting day as the Hofstra Pride men’s lacrosse team trounced the Wagner College Seahawks by a score of 18-6 on Tuesday, March 2 at James M. Shuart Stadium.

Ryan Tierney’s third goal of the day broke two records as he became the all-time Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) career points leader with 213, and also the all-time Hofstra men’s lacrosse career goals leader with 141.

“I’m awfully proud of him as a coach and I’m awfully thankful that I’ve had [this] opportunity and [will] continue for hopefully as many games as we can have together,” said Hofstra men’s lacrosse head coach Seth Tierney. “As a father, there is no better feeling. I can’t even explain it to you guys.”

Wagner (0-2) opened the game with the first goal as Philip Buque scored off an assist by Mikey Vanaman. Ryan Tierney scored his first goal of the game 3:37 into the match and was followed by an Alex Concannon goal handing Hofstra (3-1) a 2-1 lead.

Ryan Tierney scored his second goal of the game with 6:06 remaining in the opening frame. After three minutes of trading possessions, Sterlyn Ardrey extended the Pride’s lead to 4-1. With 35 seconds remaining in the first quarter, Ryan Tierney scored his record-breaking goal followed by a Justin Lynskey goal just six seconds later, capping off the 6-0 Hofstra run.

Matt Cechini broke the Hofstra run to open the second quarter at the 14:04 mark. Both teams went quiet until Ryan Tierney broke through for his fourth goal of the game at 5:59 remaining until halftime. Following a Wagner goal by Benjamin Stewart, Ryan Tierney scored his fifth goal giving the Pride an 8-3 lead at the half. 

Justin Sykes extended the Pride’s lead to start the third quarter, but Buque’s second goal of the game pulled the Seahawks back within five. Hofstra followed with a 5-0 run with Concannon scoring the next two goals followed by Lynskey, James Philbin and capped off with Ryan Tierney’s sixth goal with one second remaining in the third quarter.

Entering the final quarter, John Killcommons put Wagner back on the board, but Matt Elder’s first goal of the season was followed by another Sykes goal to put Hofstra up 16-5. Buque found the back of the net again, securing a hat-trick for Wagner, but Hofstra’s Joe Elarde and Liam Muldoon both scored their first goals of the season, handing Hofstra the lopsided 18-6 win.

“I thought we did a good job,” Seth Tierney said. “It wasn’t as clean as we wanted it be but we did a good job of controlling the game from the beginning to the end.”

Hofstra had 45 shots (31 on goal) compared to 22 shots for Wagner (11 on goal). Hofstra also controlled the groundballs 33-20 and faceoffs 15-13. Wagner had 28 turnovers in the game compared to 13 for the Pride.

Mac Gates recorded five saves for Hofstra while allowing six goals. Danny Brady recorded 13 saves for the Seahawks while allowing 18 goals.

“Defensively, I’m awfully proud of those guys. Six goals and evenly split, three in the first half and three in the second,” Seth Tierney said. “Two out of those six were man-up and one of them we were three men down and seconds away from going even.”

Hofstra opens CAA play Saturday, March 13 when the Pride head to Towson University for a matchup with the Tigers.

Photo Courtesy of Evan Bernstein/The Hofstra Chronicle