The Hofstra men’s lacrosse team defeated the University of Michigan Wolverines thanks to a commanding second half, and great performance from senior forward Ryan Tierney in a 12-9 win Saturday at James M. Shuart Stadium.
Ryan Tierney was on fire from the opening faceoff until the final whistle, scoring four goals while assisting on four as well. The eight points tied a career high for Ryan Tierney and was his most since last season’s match against Drexel.
The second half was all Hofstra, as the Pride outscored Michigan 6-3, outplaying the Wolverines on both sides of the ball. There were big moments on defense, as the Pride stumped the Michigan offense on multiple occasions.
“They’re a [Big Ten Conference] team, they got talented guys, they get the top recruits but at the end of the day it’s all about us,” said Hofstra goalie Bobby Casey. “It’s all about the defensive side for us, for Ryan [Tierney] and the offensive guys and we knew that if we just executed the game plan and continued to play our game we’d get the job done.”
Freshman Ryan Sheridan was also impressive, scoring three goals of his own, giving him five in just his first two collegiate games. Whit Stopak and Dylan McIntosh both contributed two goals in the victory.
Casey was a vital piece for the Pride in the win with one big save after another, keeping Michigan off the board for most of the second half in key moments of the game.
“It says that Bobby Casey had eight saves, but it must have been eight point blank saves,” said Hofstra head coach Seth Tierney. “I felt like he saved the ball 16 times, that’s good for him and his confidence level.”
The opening minutes of the game saw an offensive barrage from both sides with six goals being scored in the first eight minutes of the quarter. Ryan Tierney started the action with an unassisted goal 51 seconds into the game. Michigan responded with a goal by Josh Zawada two minutes later before Ryan Tierney took the lead right back less than a minute after.
Following a goal from Michigan’s Alex Buckanavage, Ryan Tierney yet again took it upon himself to regain the lead for the Pride with his third unassisted goal at the 7:38 mark, already earning his 22nd career hat trick halfway through the first period. The Wolverines knotted things up at 3-3 after Zawada’s second goal of the quarter 41 seconds later, capping off a fast-paced, back-and-forth first frame.
After a series of tallies, Ryan Tierney added to his already stellar first half, scoring his fourth goal of the game with just 40 seconds remaining in the half to tie the game at six goals apiece.
Following a scoreless third quarter, Riley Forte started the fourth off finding Sheridan for his second goal of the game, giving Hofstra a 7-6 lead just three minutes into the third quarter. Bryce Clay broke through the Pride’s suffocating defense, tying the game with 3:09 left in the quarter for his third goal of the game.
Ryan Tierney gave Hofstra the spark they needed, now as a passer, drawing multiple defenders to create space setting up Sheridan for his second goal of the game. Ryan Tierney earned another assist just moments later on Michael Altmann’s goal 23 seconds later, giving the Pride a two-score lead heading into the final frame.
“They know how to play off-ball and I just tried to get the ball to them,” Ryan Tierney said. “They were burying the ball and I can’t thank them enough for the way they played.”
The Pride continued to pour it down on Michigan, first, with Stopak scoring off of Ryan Tierney’s third straight assist just 30 seconds into the fourth quarter. Sheridan then completed his hat trick two minutes later, giving Hofstra an 11-7 edge.
The highlight of the match came five minutes later when Ryan Tierney found McIntosh across the field, jumping in mid-air to catch and shoot the ball right past the Michigan goalie. This unbelievable alley-oop showed off the great amount of confidence the Pride had in their play for the majority of the game.
“The confidence level wasn’t very good at Wednesday’s practice, but today was a new day,” Seth Tierney said. “These guys are certainly more confident than they were two and a half hours ago.”
The Wolverines added two goals of their own cutting the lead to just 12-9 with under four minutes to play, nearly scoring a third, but Casey’s eighth save of the game halted any comeback opportunity for the visiting squad.
With the win, Hofstra improves to 2-0 on the season, handing Michigan their first loss of the year as they fall to 1-1. The Pride now looks toward their next game as they will host Villanova University on Saturday, Feb. 22, at 2 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
