Box Score State College, PA – Sophomore Sam Llinares tied his career-high with four assists but Mike Sutton and Shane Sturgis combined for seven of Penn State's eight goals to lead the Nittany Lions to an 8-7 Colonial Athletic Association victory over the 12th-ranked Hofstra Pride at the Penn State Lacrosse Field Saturday afternoon.

The Pride, the number one seed in this week's CAA Championship Tournament, saw their six-game winning streak come to an end and slip to 10-4 overall and 4-1 in conference play. Penn State, with their fourth consecutive win, improved to 7-6 on the year and 3-2 in the CAA.

In addition to Llinares' four assists, which tied his performance against Marist earlier this month, Hofstra received two goals from both sophomore Korey Hendrickson and senior Torin Varn and a goal and an assist from junior Mike Malave. Seniors Drew Coholan and Lance Yapor score the other Pride goals. Llinares (27), Coholan (12) and Hendrickson (8) all extended their respective consecutive game point streaks. Junior Chris Selva made six saves in the Hofstra cage.

For Penn State, Sutton and Sturgis each scored three times in the first half with Sutton's fourth coming early in the third quarter which gave the Nittany Lions a 7-5 lead. Penn State's final goal was an own goal on an errant pass from near midfield that went over the head of Selva just 15 seconds after Sutton's fourth tally. All-American goalie Austin Kaut made eight saves in the Penn State cage for the victory.

In a game of runs, Sutton gave Penn State a 2-0 lead with his 10th and 11th of the year in the first 2:04 of the first quarter. But Malave scored his 23rd of the season and Yapor added a man-up goal as the score stood tied, 2-2 after one quarter.

Sturgis gave the Nittany Lions a 5-2 lead with three consecutive goals in the first 2:35 of the second period before Varn tallied a man-up goal and Coholan notched his 20th to close the deficit to 5-4. But Sutton completed the hat-trick with 5:31 to play in the half to give Penn State a 6-4 lead at the break.

Hofstra closed to within one at 6-5 on Hendrickson's 16th of the year just 1:18 into the third quarter. But Sutton tallied his third 1:17 later before the Pride's own goal miscue 15 seconds after that. Varn added his 28th goal of the year 57 seconds later before Hendrickson added his second of the game 2:42 into the fourth quarter.

Penn State outshot the Pride, 31-26 and picked up 23 ground balls to Hofstra's 20. The Pride committed 16 turnovers, splitting eight in each half.

Hofstra returns to action this Wednesday, April 30 as the top-seed Pride host the fourth-seed Blue Hens of Delaware in the CAA Championship Tournament semifinals at James M. Shuart Stadium. Game time is 7 p.m. Hofstra returns to the CAA Championship for the first time since 2011, when the Pride was also the top-seed. The Pride is making their ninth appearance in the tournament while winning CAA titles in 2006 and 2008.

Delaware also returns to the championship field after a two-year hiatus as the Blue Hens battled their way into this year's four-team tournament with a win over UMass on Friday night. The Blue Hens are making their eighth appearance in the postseason event. UD won CAA title in 2007, 2010 and 2011.