Hempstead, NY – Senior Mike Malave scored three of his game-high four goals in the Pride's six-goal first half and sophomore Kris Clarke won 15 of 17 face-offs to lead Hofstra to a 9-5 Colonial Athletic Association victory over the Blue Hens of Delaware at Delaware Stadium Saturday afternoon.

The Pride evened their CAA record at 1-1 and improved to 4-5 on the year. Delaware, which dropped its second consecutive game, is 0-1 in conference play and 4-7 overall.

Malave boosted his points and goals streak to 16 in both categories Saturday with his four goals to give him 25 on the season, just one off his career-high set last year. It was also his third hat-trick of the season. Junior Sam Llinares added two goals and two assists to bump his points and goals streak to 37 and 11 games, respectively. The Tewaaraton Trophy candidate now has 26 goals and 22 assists in nine games this season. He entered the UD contest ranked fifth in Division I in points per game.

Sophomore Zachary Franco tallied the first two Hofstra goals of the contest while junior Korey Hendrickson added a goal and two assists. Clarke, who entered the contest ranked eighth in the nation in face-off winning percentage, continued his stellar play with his 15 wins in the 17 attempts. Senior goalie Chris Selva made seven saves to post his fourth win of the year.

Delaware was led by senior Brian Kormondy, who posted his fourth career hat-trick and the second of the year, with three goals. The Blue Hens split the duties in goal as junior Conor Peaks played the first half and made eight saves while senior Brett Anton played the second half and stopped six shots.

For the fifth time this season, the Pride's opponent scored the first goal of the contest as Kormondy gave Delaware a 1-0 lead on a bullet from the left side of the cage 3:41 into the game.

But Hofstra would score four unanswered goals in the first and second quarters to open up a 4-1 lead. Franco would open the Pride scoring less than a minute after Delaware's goal off a pass from Llinares and would get his third of the year, off a pass from Hendrickson, with 4:14 to play in the first quarter. Malave would score the next two goals in the first 4:41 of the second period, including a man-up goal with 10:19 to play in the half that boosted the score to 4-1.

After Kormondy notched his second of the game Malave and Llinares closed out the half with goals as Hofstra took a 6-2 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Pride outshot UD, 23-8 and won nine of 10 face-offs in the first 30 minutes.

The Blue Hens came out in the third quarter with consecutive goals by sophomore Steve Delargy and Kormondy in the first six minutes to close the deficit to 6-4. But Hendrickson's ninth goal of the year, on the man-up, at the 6:42 mark of the third, and Malave's 25th of the season on a strong dodge from the side 4:44 into the fourth quarter took the wind out of the Delaware sails and boosted the Pride lead to 8-4.

Senior Beau Jones would tally his 14th goal of the season with 7:12 to play in the contest but that was just one of the two shots the Blue Hens could muster in the final period. Llinares closed out the scoring in the contest with his second of the contest with Delaware on a full-field ride with 24 seconds remaining.

Hofstra outshot Delaware 40-16 and picked up 31 ground balls to the Blue Hens' 18.

The Pride will return to action next Saturday, April 4 when they honor their seniors in pregame ceremonies before taking on CAA-rivals, the Dragons of Drexel at James M. Shuart Stadium. Game time is 1 p.m.