Even with seven different players scoring, including three in double digits, the Hofstra men’s lacrosse team came up just short in their loss to the #18 Ohio State Buckeyes (OSU) on Saturday, March 7, at Ohio Stadium.
Kyle Steinbach tied his career-high record with a pair of goals in Saturday’s matchup, as Whit Stopak and Sterlyn Ardrey also provided the Pride with two goals apiece.
Hofstra was down 12-7 four minutes into the final stanza, but scored three goals to put Ohio State on their back heels.
Hofstra struck first, scoring just 2:28 into the opening quarter off Stopak’s sixth goal of the season. The Buckeyes responded by scoring five unanswered goals over the next 17 minutes, including two from Griffin Hughes who led OSU with three goals on the afternoon.
Hofstra senior Ryan Tierney’s team-leading 17th goal of the season was less than two minutes later and halted the Ohio State run momentarily. The Buckeyes tacked on two more goals in the following two minutes though, giving them a 7-2 edge over the Pride with just under eight minutes remaining in the half.
Following a Hofstra timeout, redshirt junior Bobby Casey had a great stretch of play over the next two minutes. Casey fought off shot after shot from Buckeye attackers, earning three of his nine saves to keep the Pride from falling behind even more in a crucial moment of the contest.
Steinbach’s first goal of the game cut the deficit, but OSU regained control with a goal of their own to maintain a five-goal lead heading into halftime with the score at 8-3 in favor of the home team.
The Pride began to crawl back into game, starting with James Philbin scoring off a Ryan Tierney assist 33 seconds into the second half for Hofstra’s fourth score of the game.
That assist also left Tierney just three points shy of sixth place for career points all-time at Hofstra, as well as just three goals short of third place for career goals in program history.
The Pride added two more goals when Steinbach and freshman Sam Lutfi brought Hofstra within just two goals of tying the game halfway through the quarter.
Ardrey’s fourth goal of the season and first of the day was scored between two scores by OSU to enter the final period with the Pride down 10-7.
Two goals in the first four minutes of the quarter gave the Buckeyes another five-goal lead, and put them firmly ahead the rest of the way before the Pride’s last-minute run to attempt and tie things up.
With the loss, Hofstra falls to 3-4 as Ohio State improves to 4-3. The Pride will return to action on Tuesday, March 10, as they travel to take on St. John’s University. Opening face-off is set for 3 p.m. from DaSilva Memorial Field.
Photo courtesy of Willow Mollenkopf, For The Lantern
