Despite overcoming a 6-2 first-quarter deficit, the Hofstra men’s lacrosse team ended up dropping their second straight Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) matchup, this time a 10-9 loss to the University of Delaware on Saturday afternoon at James M. Shuart Stadium.
Sophomore Ryan Tierney led the Pride with four goals. Senior Dylan Alderman scored twice and junior Jimmy Yanes, senior Alex Moeser and senior Brendan Kavanagh each scored once.
The Pride (5-6, 1-2 CAA) were heavily outplayed in the first quarter. In the first 15 minutes, Delaware outshot Hofstra 11-4, forcing five Pride turnovers and recording zero turnovers themselves. The Blue Hens had the lead after one, but Hofstra turned it around in the second quarter.
Hofstra cut the deficit to three goals by the end of the first half, recording more shots and turning the ball over less in the second quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Pride tied the game at nine, but ultimately gave up a goal with six minutes remaining in regulation. That goal was ultimately the game-winner for Delaware.
In the last three quarters of play, Hofstra outplayed the Blue Hens. The Pride outshot Delaware 32-15 and outscored them 7-4, but fell just short of coming back from a tough first quarter.
“You can’t lose the first quarter by four goals and expect to just either trade goals or just win quarters by one,” said Hofstra head coach Seth Tierney.
“Everything needs to go right for you and everything needs to go wrong for them.”
Delaware sophomore Charlie Kitchen led all scorers with five goals in the win.
On the stat sheet, Hofstra dominated the Blue Hens in most categories throughout the game.
Hofstra outshot Delaware 36-26, picked up three more ground balls and won 10 more faceoffs.
“I’d like to have the first couple minutes of the game back,” Seth Tierney said.
“We lost this game in just a couple of minutes.”
With this loss to Delaware, the two remaining regular season games have become even more important for the Pride.
“Tournament play is only five games, so they’re monstrous,” Seth Tierney said.
“Now we’re in a situation where we must win to get to 3-2 and to get into the CAA Tournament. It doesn’t get any more black and white than that.”
Saturday was senior day for the Pride. Before the game, the 18 graduating seniors were honored in a ceremony.
“To our seniors, I wanted to thank them for their effort; and in the next two weeks we have a lot of lacrosse to play, and we’re going to need those guys,” Seth Tierney said.
The Pride will next travel down to Philadelphia to take on Drexel University on Saturday, April 21.
