By Bob Bonett

Common with the theme of the season, Hofstra’s men’s lacrosse team collapsed late, falling to the Towson Tigers 11-5 in the CAA Tournament.

The game, close until a quarter-long rally by No. 14 Towson (9-5) in the third period, disappointed just as the regular season did, as sloppy play doomed the Pride.

Entering halftime, Coach Seth Tierney’s team was in terrific shape. The Pride (6-8), ranked sixth in the nation in defense going into the game, were holding Towson’s high throttle offense in check, allowing only one goal to get by keeper Danny Orlando.

In addition, despite only managing two goals, one early by freshman Tom Interlicchio and one with five seconds left in the first quarter by senior Ryan Miller, the team managed to control the ball almost exclusively during the first half, preventing Towson from being able to mount any sort of offensive flow.

However, during the second half, the Pride lost their ability to control the ball, and continued to have a great deal of trouble putting the ball in the back of the net.

“It was really a tale of two halves,” said Tierney. “We were up by one at the half, but like the story of the year, we just couldn’t play 60 minutes.”

Opening the second half, Towson went on a five-goal tear, all in the third quarter, on the backs of Timmy Andre, Randall Cooper and three goals from Bobby Griebe.

The onslaught of goals gave Towson six for the game, a number that would ultimately prove to be enough for goalie Matt Antol, who finished with 12 saves.

Despite the run, Hofstra did show signs of life. Anthony Muscarella, coming back from an ankle injury sustained in the first half, scored his 12th goal of the season on an extra man opportunity to end Towson’s run and cut the lead to three.

Then, in the fourth quarter, after the Tigers went on another run to jump on top 9-3, including Griebe’s fourth goal, Ryan Miller scored with 7:24 left, showing that Hofstra was down, but not out.

However, the Tigers managed to prevent any sort of miracle from occurring for the remainder of the game. Towson retorted to Miller’s goal with two of their own, one by Cooper, another by Kyle Smedley, giving the team an all-but-surmountable 11-4 lead.

The Pride would tack one more on when freshman Dan Stein scored, closing within six, a hefty margin with little time left. Tierney and the coaching staff let the team know in a late huddle, though, that waving the proverbial white flag was not an option.

“We told them that we were going to finish this [game] the right way,” said Tierney” If anybody quit or we saw anybody give up, they weren’t going to be on next year’s team. “If we were going to lose, we were going to lose with class. A Hofstra team is going to be built on good people doing it the right way. Sometimes [the players] let the emotions get the best of [them], and I wasn’t going to let that happen,” he added.

The head coach also noted that the inability of Stein or Dooley to make their presence felt earlier, by taking more shots or exhibiting more pressure on the attack, was not what hurt the Pride, though.

“Tom Dooley, Dan Stein and Tom Interlicchio are two freshman and a sophomore,” said Tierney. “We needed help from guys who had been there before. You can’t expect those guys to do it alone.”

Simply looking at the statistics, it was easy to tell that the two halves played as if they were different games altogether. On offense, the Pride managed 18 shots in the first half and just eight in the second. In addition, the attack turned the ball over much more in the latter two periods, bringing the team’s giveaway total to 14 for the game.

On the opposite side of the ball, it was clear that the team’s defense became lackluster in the second half. Towson, kept away from the ball and any scoring opportunities early in the game, scored at will in the third and fourth periods, scoring 10 goals on 24 shots, compared to just one goal on 10 shots in the first half. Tierney noted that Orlando’s goaltending was exceptional throughout, while the defense fell short later in the game.

“It wasn’t Danny’s fault at all. He played well and made some saves he shouldn’t have made,” said Tierney. “When you get a couple of shots right on top of you, and you couple that with someone with freshman experience, its trouble. He needed help from the older guys in front of him.”

The season, according to the rookie head coach, had both disappointing aspects and reassuring aspects, both which will serve as building blocks for the young team in the 2007-08 season.

“We’re going to take the season as a positive,” said Tierney. “Certainly the record doesn’t reflect what has taken place this year. When you honor the season to a young man who lost his life to cancer, you can have all the wins you want.

“When you look at all the one-goal games, we were a few breaks away from being a pretty good team,” he added.

The Pride will return all but five players next season, losing, among others, team leaders Ryan Miller and Bill Peter.

Towson will move on to host No. 3 Delaware in the CAA Tournament finals Saturday at 7 p.m.