The eyes of the college lacrosse world and the camera eye of several television outlets will be focused on LaValle Stadium at Stony Brook University on Saturday when the second-ranked and third seed Hofstra Pride take on the 10th-ranked Massachusetts Minutemen in a NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship Northern Quarterfinal game at Noon.
ESPNU, which will broadcast both Northern Quarterfinal games on Saturday as well the Southern Quarterfinal contests on Sunday at Towson University, has added Fox Sports New York and SportsNet New York to its syndicated package, virtually blanketing the metropolitan area with coverage.
Hofstra enters the NCAA Championship Quarterfinals riding a 17-game winning streak. It is the longest winning streak in school history and equals the Division I single season record for most victories in a season, set by Duke last season. The Pride has won 19 of its last 21 games and 22 of the last 25,
Saturday's game is the 31st meeting between Hofstra and Massachusetts in a series that started in 1974. UMass leads the series 16-14. The Minutemen defeated Hofstra in their last meeting on February 26, 2006 in Amherst 11-7. It was UMass' fifth consecutive victory over the Pride. Massachusetts defeated Hofstra 12-7 in Hempstead 6-3 on March 28, 2004 in Amherst, and twice in 2003, winning on March 23, 2003 at James M. Shuart Stadium in Hempstead, NY 14-7, and in the NCAA Tournament first round on May 11, 2003 9-6. The last Hofstra victory over UMass came in the 2002 season opener in Amherst 12-11 in OT. Hofstra junior midfielder Paul Rao scored the winning goal 13 seconds into overtime to give the Pride the victory. Hofstra's 12-11 overtime victory at Massachusetts in 2002 was the third overtime game in the Pride-Minutemen series. Hofstra has won all three. Seven games in the series have been decided by just one goal while three have been decided by two goals, and four contests decided by three goals.
Hofstra is loaded with firepower as they possess the top two scorers in the country in junior Athan Iannucci and senior Chris Unterstein. Both topped the 60-point plateau on the season at Stony Brook on April 25. Unterstein now has 41 goals and 36 assists while Iannucci has 62 goals and 18 assists and leads the nation in goals scored and total points. Unterstein is now second in points per game this week. Iannucci's 80 points mark this season is the first time a Hofstra player has tallied 80 points or more since Steve Dauses tallied 84 (35-49) in 1970. The 80 points rank third on the Hofstra all-time single season point list behind Jerry Simandl's 102 points (44-58) in 1955 and Dauses' 84 in 1970.
Unterstein was named as one of the five finalists for the 2006 Tewaaraton Trophy earlier this week. The Tewaaraton Trophy, presented to the top male and female varsity collegiate lacrosse player in the United States, will be presented on June 1 at the National Geographic Society Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Hofstra alumnus Doug Shanahan, a member of the 2006 U.S. National team that will compete in the World Championships in Canada this July, captured the first Tewaaraton Trophy in 2001.
The defense has also been outstanding led by two-time Colonial Athletic Association Defender of the Year and 2005 second team All-American selection Brett Moyer. The Pride ranked fourth in the country in goals against average with a 6.33 mark.
Saturday's Hofstra-UMass winner will advance to the national semifinals at Lincoln Financial Field in Phialdelphia on Saturday, May 27 at 2 p.m. against the winner of the Maryland (11-4)-Princeton (11-4) Southern Quarterfinal game that will be played on Sunday.
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