Head coach Seth Tierney enters his 11th season with the Hofstra Pride men’s lacrosse team in 2017 and has the bar set high for his team.
“I really like the direction that we are headed in,” Tierney said.
After starting last season 3-0 and ranked eighth in the nation, the Pride finished 9-6 on the year, falling to Fairfield 11-8 in the CAA semifinals.
“I think that there was a little bit of an empty feeling after last season,” Tierney said.
“We were a little bit thin towards the end of the season, and we just ran out of gas.”
Notable wins on the season include: the eventual national champions North Carolina (10-5) and Ohio State (8-5).
The Pride loses three key parts of their offense: attackman Sam Llinares and midfielders Korey Hendrickson and Brian von Bargen. Both Hendrickson and von Bargen had careers seasons in their final year in Blue and Gold, while Llinares cemented himself as one of the greats to play lacrosse at Hofstra with 101 career goals and 80 assists.
Finn Sullivan also graduates from the defense, holding it down as a starter for the last three years.
“Finn did a great job, he brought a certain toughness to the field,” Tierney said. “We still feel his impact on the field.”
Entering this season, Hofstra is the underdog in the Colonial Athletic Association, getting picked to finish third in the conference behind Towson and Fairfield. Hofstra also received some votes in the Maverik Preseason Media Poll, putting them right outside the top 20 nationally.
Brendan Kavanagh, Kris Clarke, Tanner Griffin and Jack Concannon were named to the 2017 Preseason All-CAA team, along with Josh Byrne as an honorable mention. Concannon was also named to the 2017 Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Yearbook All-America third team.
The season looks bright for the Pride, with it all starting on defense.
Concannon comes off a stellar year taking over for Chris Selva. Concannon ranked tops in the nation in all goalie categories.
The Pride brings back three big pieces in their defense with Griffin, Michael Diener and Brett Osman.
All three are upperclassmen and have extensive experience, anchoring in front for Concannon.
The “Rope Unit” also plays a big part on defense, as they bring everyone back.
This line is used strictly for defense, as it is headed by long-stick midfielder Liam Blohm.
He is paired with short-stick defensive midfielders Brenden Lynch, Luke Gomez and captain Tommy Voelkel.
The four combined to pick up 67 groundballs last season.
The Pride also brings back senior faceoff-specialist Kris Clarke.
Clarke was one of the top faceoff men in the nation, winning 57 percent of his draws.
He also led the team with 86 groundballs.
Hofstra went to the faceoff X confident about winning with Clarke.
His high winning percentage led to multiple fast break opportunities.
With the offense losing some key pieces, players are needed to step up.
Before the season started, Kavanagh was selected to wear the number 27 in honor of Nick Collelouri.
He will man the first line of midfielders along with fellow junior Dylan Alderman.
Kavanagh had 10 goals and 13 assists while Alderman posted seven goals and two assists.
The last spot is up for grabs and candidates are: Alex Moeser, Dale Stasco, Mitch Kingsley and freshman Riley Forte.
“All these guys are in a group where, they weren’t starters, but we’re going to need them to step up when the time comes,” Tierney said.
The other three will comprise the second line of midfielders.
The attacking end is where most of the holes need to be filled.
The Pride brings back Josh Byrne, who led the team with 30 goals and 15 assists.
Who will go along with him is the question.
Tierney has options in Zachary Franco, who scored seven goals in seven games played last season.
Another option that did not see the field a lot last year is Brier Davis.
Davis broke out in his sophomore season, starting in eight games and was third on the team with 14 goals.
Another possible option is the son of Coach Seth Tierney, Ryan Tierney.
Ryan Tierney had one goal and three assists in the scrimmage against Rutgers this past weekend.
This season is not going to be an easy one for Hofstra.
The Pride plays five teams ranked in the top 20 or teams that received votes, including defending national champs North Carolina again at Chapel Hill.
Hofstra played extremely well in their scrimmages against Hobart and 19th ranked Rutgers.
If that is an indication for anything, then the Hofstra Pride should be in good hands come the start of the season.