The Hofstra University men’s lacrosse team dropped their third straight game on Saturday, Feb. 21, with a 9-8 loss to St. John’s University at Rams Field of Farmingdale State College. The Pride fell to 1-3 and have been held to 10 goals or less in their last three games. The Red Storm improved to 2-2 on the season.
The loss was the first time St. John’s has defeated the Pride in their yearly series since 2021. Hofstra won last season’s meeting 13-12 in overtime, thanks to seven goals from Drew Bogardus and a game-winner from Trevor Natalie. Although Natalie had two goals in Saturday’s defeat, Bogardus was silenced by the Johnnies’ defense.
Hofstra saw offense from an unlikely source as John Hicks kept the Pride in the game early by scoring their first two goals – the first two of his collegiate career. Hicks made his first ever start, not only potting two goals but being an active part of the offense all day.
Jake Wright opened the scoring for St. John’s in the second minute of play, and the Red Storm scored two straight after Hicks tied it shortly after. Brody Hergott fired a bouncing shot which beat Hofstra goalkeeper Shea Kennedy. Mitch Campbell buried one as well.
Trailing against St. John’s isn’t an unfamiliar spot for Hofstra, they overcame a 5-1 deficit last year in Queens, and they quickly erased their 3-1 second-quarter disadvantage thanks to Hicks and Natalie. Natalie scored his first of the afternoon on a man-advantage opportunity that he created after he took an illegal hit from Connor Dodd.
The Red Storm restored order soon after. Quinn Falasca received a clear attempt with under five minutes to go, and the next time the ball left his stick, it was behind Kennedy and in the net. About a minute later, Noah Plenn and the St. John’s forecheck forced Kennedy into a turnover, Plenn picked up the ball and fired it into the open net, restoring the two-goal lead heading into halftime.
If you looked away for the first seven seconds of the third quarter, you would have missed a goal. Ethan Wiegand picked up the ground ball off the faceoff win and went coast to coast, burying a goal and giving his squad a 6-3 lead.
From there, the energy shifted. Hofstra’s Joey DeYoung scored twice to cut the Johnnies’ lead to one, and Topher Accetta beat Red Storm goalkeeper Matt Nelson to tie the game heading into the fourth quarter.
Natalie didn’t take long to get going in the fourth. He gave the Pride their first lead of the afternoon near the four-minute mark and Anthony Mollica added insurance to bring the Hofstra lead to 8-6 four minutes after Natalie’s goal.
As the game reached crunch time, St. John’s piled on the pressure. Kennedy, who finished the game with 12 saves, stood tall at first, but cracked as the clock dipped below four minutes remaining. Wright scored his second goal of the game while Matthew Vilas was serving a penalty. The third time was the charm for Wright, who missed two shots on the possession before striking true.
The Red Storm seemed to smell blood in the water when they cut their deficit to 8-7. They won the draw and got back to work, the ball reached the stick of Adrian Nowak, who tied the game.
St. John’s dominated faceoffs in the fourth quarter, winning five of six draws, including one directly after they tied the game, which quickly turned into the game-winning goal. Hergott beat Kennedy and sent the traveling Red Storm fans into delirium.
The Pride lost the faceoff but still had an opportunity to tie the game. Chase Huggard committed a tripping infraction, which gave the Pride a man-up opportunity for the game’s final 23 seconds. Mollica sent a shot wide, and Gus Langtry’s desperation last-second shot rang off the post, beating the defense and the goaltender, but still staying out of the net.
The Pride will travel to Piscataway, New Jersey, Saturday, Feb. 28, for a tilt with Rutgers University. The opening draw is set for 3 p.m.
