Amherst, MA - Kevin Ford scored three goals and one assist in his 2010 debut but a late Hofstra rally fell short as 18^th-ranked Massachusetts downed the sixth-ranked Pride, 11-9, in a CAA game at Richard Garber Field Saturday afternoon. Hofstra, which had its four-game winning streak stopped, are 4-2 on the season and 0-1 in the CAA while UMass, which won its third straight game, improved to 6-2 overall and 1-0 in conference action.

Ford, a sophomore attackman, missed the preseason and the first five games with a broken foot but tied for game-high honors with three goals and four points. Hofstra junior Stephen Bentz and sophomore Brad Loizeaux each added two goals and one assist. UMass was led by sophomore Art Kell with three goals and one assist, classmate Anthony Biscardi added two goals and one assist and freshman Will Manny added a goal and three assists. Sophomore goalie Tim McCormack made 12 saves in the Minutemen goal.

The two teams split the first four goals with junior Ryan Hantverk and Kell scoring for UMass and Loizeaux and Bentz scoring for the Pride to end the first quarter tied at 2-2. But the Minutemen erupted in the second quarter, scoring four in the second and a fifth 1:05 into the third quarter to take a 7-2 lead. UMass senior Bobby Hayes started the run with 6:35 to play in the half with his 14^th goal of the year from Manny. Biuscardi notched his 12^th of the year 31 seconds later for a 4-2 advantage. Senior Christian Hain gave the Minutemen a three-goal lead with his seventh of the year, from Manny, with 4:25 to play and freshman Colin Fleming posted his second of the year, from Manny, with 42 seconds remaining in the half for a 6-2 halftime lead.

Biscardi gave the Minutemen a five-goal advantage with his 13^th of the season from Kell, just 1:55 into the third quarter. Hofstra ended the run and closed the gap with back-to-back man-up goals by Bentz, his 14^th, from Ford, and an unassisted goal by Ford to bring the Pride within three at 7-4 with 7:56 to play in the quarter. But once again, UMass went on a run, this time 3-0 over the next four minutes to build a 10-4 lead. Junior Ryan Liebel notched his ninth while Kell added his 20^th and 21^st of the season for the six-goal advantage with 3:22 to play in the third.

The Pride came out of a timeout inspired and scored three goals in 70 second with Mike DeNapoli scoring his eighth , Loizeaux notching his second of the game and seventh of the year and Ford scoring a man-up goal, from junior Jamie Lincoln (1 goal, 1 assist) to close to 10-7 with 1:40 to play in the third quarter. The momentum had shifted but Manny took some wind out of the sails with his 14^th goal of the year, on an off-speed bounce shot with one second remaining in the third.

Hofstra came out in the fourth quarter and closed to 11-9 on goals by Lincoln with 10:02 to play and Ford with 3:12 to play. But UMass, which killed the clock most of the fourth quarter, was able to stop the Pride in the last few minutes with McCormack making six of his 12 saves in the fourth quarter. The Pride outshot UMass, 41-27, and picked up 27 ground balls to the Minutemen's 21. The UMass victory was their fifth consecutive win over the Pride in Amherst and boosted their series lead to 19-16 including eight of the lat 10 meetings.

Hofstra returns to action on Tuesday, March 30 when they host the Black Knights of Army at James M. Shuart Stadium at 7 p.m.

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