The Hofstra men’s lacrosse team continued its winning ways Saturday with an 11-10 victory over Providence College at James M. Shuart Stadium, improving to 6-0 for the first time since 1973. Jack Concannon turned in the game of his life with a career-high 19 saves, while Josh Byrne had a hat trick in the first 3:57 of play, en route to four goals and an assist on the day. Sophomore Jimmy Yanes got into the action himself, scoring a career-high three goals, all of which came in the third quarter.
Coming off a huge win over the University of North Carolina in their previous game, many Hofstra players returned home with a stomach bug that nearly wiped out the entire team.
“Two days this week we were missing 17 guys, we came home with a norovirus from North Carolina and we could barely practice,” said Hofstra head coach Seth Tierney. “It rampaged our team, we just got guys back this morning.”
Despite missing over half the team for most of the week, the Pride found a way to fight adversity and come out on top in this game.
Though the Pride was in control for most of the game, Providence staged a vicious comeback bid in the final frame.
Ahead 11-5 at the end of the third quarter, Providence scored five goals in the fourth quarter, while shutting Hofstra’s attack down. Providence outshot Hofstra 14-5 and won four of five face-offs in the final frame and nearly came all the way back to force overtime.
Of all Concannon’s saves, none was more important than his final one off Brendan Kearns’ shot with just seven seconds left in the game.
After missing multiple practices this week, the second-team All-American showed no rust in goal and was the catalyst for the victory.
“I’m definitely not feeling 100 percent back to normal, but it wasn’t going to stop me from coming out today,” Concannon said.
Concannon is no stranger to Kearns, having faced off against him many times before when the two local Long Islanders squared off in high school. And though Concannon has likely saved many shots off Kearns’ stick, none was bigger than this game-sealing save.
Hofstra, currently ranked No. 7 in the nation in the Inside Lacrosse poll and No. 11 in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Coaches Poll, will likely rise even higher up the rankings by remaining unbeaten nearly halfway through the regular season.
Through six games, only one of Hofstra’s victories has been decided by more than two goals, a 20-4 drubbing of New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Besides that lone blowout, Hofstra has proven to have a winning formula this year, with one of the best goalies in the nation, backed by a bevy of talented scorers.
Hofstra will remain at home for their next game on Tuesday against Long Island rival Stony Brook at 7 p.m., while Providence (4-3) will travel to Massachusetts for a match against University of Massachusetts Lowell on Tuesday night.