By Joe Pantorno, Assistant Sports Editor
Not many teams have the opportunity in any sport to play a game on a stage like the Hofstra Pride men’s lacrosse did last Saturday. On, April 10, 2010 the Pride took on the Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens at the New Meadowlands Stadium, the first event ever played at New Jersey’s newest sporting cathedral.
According to Inside Lacrosse, 25,710 fans packed the new stadium as the lacrosse world braced itself for one of the biggest days of the year as Hofstra’s rivalry matchup was followed by no. 1 Virginia v. no. 2 North Carolina and no. 3 Syracuse v. no. 4 Princeton.
What head coach Seth Tierney called, “Our first round of the playoffs,” started onSaturday with the Pride needing the win to get themselves back into the CAA playoff race after they started off the year 0-2 with losses to UMass and Drexel. The playoff atmosphere was certainly present at the New Meadowlands Stadium as the bitter rivals looked to clear up the cloudy CAA playoff picture.
The game did not start off well for the Pride as Delaware took the game by the scruff of its neck in the first period. After an early Pride goal from sophomore attacker Kevin Ford, Delaware jumped out to a 3-1 lead as senior attacker Curtis Dickson put on a first half show, scoring two of his four goals of the game in the first quarter and bringing up his season total to 42. The Blue Hens continued to dominate the game until 1:04 left in the quarter when one half of the “Ontario Onslaught” found pay dirt as junior attack Jay Card netted his twentieth goal of the season.
Hofstra’s play improved in the second quarter as the offense came alive. After Dickson’s third goal goal came 53 seconds in, Ford, junior attacker Stephen Bentz, and freshman midfielder Adrian Sorichetti answered only three minutes and twenty nine seconds apart to give Hofstra the 5-4 lead.
The lead was short lived however and after a scrum that saw Card and Delaware junior defender Matt Stefurak penalized one minute for unnecessary roughness, UD regained the lead with two goals in thirty-seven seconds.
Great players have a tendency to turn the game around and even though he was he was shut down for most of the game, junior attacker Jamie Lincoln turned the tide of the matchup after he scored a highlight reel goal. Lincoln received a pass from Jay Card and quickly put the ball in the cage from a behind-the-head shot. The momentum clearly shifted Hofstra’s way as they ended the half with an 8-7 advantage.
Hofstra came out flying in the second half adding to a 5-0 run that began with twenty seven seconds left in the first half. In Lincoln’s absence on the score sheet, Card, Bentz and Ford stepped up to take control of the offense. “His [Lincoln’s] teammates stepped up for him,” stated Tierney, “and I think it was a little bit of reciprocation because Jamie has stepped up for them an awful lot at the beginning of the year.”
Card scored three goals in the game and was named Most Outstanding Player for his efforts. He celebrated his third goal mimicing Yoda’s walk from Star Wars adding a bit more character to an event that had enough on its own.
Senior midfielder Dan Stein scored Hofstra’s last goal of the match with 12:28 left in the fourth quarter and after that it was up to the defense to hold down the fort and keep the lead safe. With the score at 12-8, Delaware’s offense took advantage of the Pride’s disappearance of attacking pressure. The Blue Hens’ comeback forced Hofstra fans to delay the celebration as Delaware scored two goals in twenty-one seconds with 6:17 remaining to cut the score to 12-10. Hofstra’s defense and its goalkeeping from sophomore Andrew Gvozden stayed strong and with two seconds left, Delaware scored a meaningless goal only making the final score look closer as Hofstra won the game and earned its first conference victory. “I thought Andrew did a good job,” said Tierney. “They shot wherever, whenever their hands are free and it was almost like he couldn’t blink for sixty minutes.”
Tierney, however, was not all smiles after the game. When the final whistle blew, it was obvious he was unhappy with his team letting Delaware back in the game. “I apologized to my team. I yelled at them on the field after the game because I expect more,” he said. “I don’t expect it to be a 12-11 game when we’re up four with six minutes to go. That’s not acceptable at Hofstra University. I’m thrilled that we won, but that is unacceptable.”
A win is a win though and this win was something special. The Hofstra Pride became the first team to gain a “W” at the New Meadowlands Stadium. Kevin Ford basically summed up the experience and the victory in one word: “Awesome.”
