Hempstead, NY – The undefeated and sixth-ranked Hofstra Men's Lacrosse team will open Colonial Athletic Association play this Saturday, April 1 when the Pride travel to Connecticut to face the Stags of Fairfield University (3-6) at Rafferty Stadium. Game time is 7 p.m.
Fairfield will provide free video streaming and live statistics of the contest. Hofstra will also provide live audio streaming of the game with links for all three on this page as well as on the men's lacrosse schedule page on GoHofstra.com.
Hofstra, which is ranked in the Top 10 in all three weekly Division I polls for the second consecutive week, is 8-0 on the season for the first time in school history. The Pride is ranked third in both the Nike/US Lacrosse Poll and in the Maverik/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll and sixth in the Nike/USILA Coaches Poll this week.
Hofstra is coming off a 9-6 victory over the Red Storm of St. John's at James M. Shuart Stadium last Saturday night. After St. John's tied the game at 3-3 midway through the second quarter, the Pride scored five of the next six goals to open up the contest. Senior
Josh Byrne tallied two goals and two assists, freshman
Ryan Tierney added two goals and one assist and junior
Dylan Alderman chipped in a goal and two assists to lead Hofstra. Junior
Alex Moeser added two goals and classmate
Jack Concannon made five saves for his eighth win of the year. Freshman
Kyle Gallagher won 10 of 12 face-offs for the Pride.
This season, Hofstra has wins over Monmouth (11-9), Princeton (10-8), NJIT (20-4), Georgetown (11-9), North Carolina (11-9), Providence (11-10), Stony Brook (11-9) and St. John's. The Pride average 11.75 goals per game and allow 8.00. Hofstra is also making the most of their extra-man opportunities, connecting on 13 of 28 man-up chances for a .464 success rate.
On the season, Byrne, the Tewaaraton Watch List selection, now has 23 goals and 17 assists in eight games while Tierney has added 18 goals and nine assists. Junior
Brendan Kavanagh has scored 14 goals and two assists while Alderman has added nine goals and 13 assists. Concannon has an 8.00 goals against average with 98 saves and a .613 save percentage.
Fairfield and the Pride will be meeting for the ninth time. The series stands tied at 4-4. The two teams met twice last season with the Stags winning both games. Fairfield edged the Pride, 9-8 on April 2, 2016 in Hempstead and 11-8 at Towson on May 5, 2016 in the CAA Championship semifinals. The Stags have won the last three encounters since a 9-7 Hofstra victory over Fairfield on February 25, 2014.
The Stags of Fairfield enter Saturday's CAA opener with a 3-6 record with victories over Bucknell (13-12), UMass Lowell (8-7) and NJIT (13-6) and losses to Richmond (15-3), Rutgers (8-3), Stony Brook (9-6), Yale (11-10 in 2 OT), Penn State (9-6) and Villanova (18-9), Fairfield averages 8.11 goals per game and allows 10.56 per outing.
Fairfield is led in scoring by sophomore Colin Burke with 18 goals and seven assists for 25 points. Freshman Dylan Beckwith has eight goals and eight assists while classmate Travis Ford has added 15 goals. Senior Tyler Behring has a 10.86 goals against average with 89 saves and a .511 save percentage.
After the Fairfield contest, the Pride will head south on Saturday, April 8 for another Colonial Athletic Association game at the University of Delaware. Game time at UD Stadium is 1 p.m.
