Hempstead, NY – Hofstra sophomore Ryan Tierney recorded his third hat-trick of the season with four goals and one assist to lead the Pride to a 9-3 Colonial Athletic Association victory over the Towson Tigers in the conference season opener for both teams.

Hofstra, which snapped a two-game losing skid, improved to 5-4 overall and 1-0 in the CAA while the Tigers, who played without two starters, slipped to 3-6 overall and 0-1 in league play. Towson has dropped three consecutive games.

In addition to Tierney's game-high five points, junior Jimmy Yanes added two goals and one assists while senior Dylan Alderman, who returned after missing the past four games, added a goal and an assist. Classmate Brendan Kavanagh and freshman Dylan McIntosh each added a Pride goal. Senior defender John Puckhaber recorded a game-high four caused turnovers. Classmate Jack Concannon made seven saves to record his fifth win of the year.

Towson was led by Timmy Monahan with a goal and an assist while Grant Maloof and Brendan Sunday each added a goal for the Tigers. Shane Brennan made eight saves in the Towson cage.

In a low-scoring first half, Hofstra jumped out to a 2-0 lead on first quarter goals by Alderman and Tierney. But Towson got on the board with a man-up goal just 1:45 into the second quarter as the half ended with the Pride up 2-1.

Hofstra blew the game open in the third quarter, scoring four of the first five goals in the period to open up a 6-2 advantage. Yanes and Monahan exchanged goals in the first 4:25 before Tierney scored consecutive goals and Kavanagh added another for the 6-2 lead. Sunday scored with 0:05 remaining in the third to close the gap to 6-3 after three quarters.

But it was all Hofstra in the fourth quarter as McIntosh scored a man-up goal off a pass from Tierney, then Tierney notched his fourth almost two minutes later and Yanes tallied his second of the game 89 seconds later to close out the scoring.

The Pride outshot Towson, 35-23 while the Tigers picked up 24 ground balls to the Pride's 19. Towson won 11 of 16 face-offs in the contest.

Hofstra returns to CAA action next Saturday, April 7 when the Pride host the Fairfield Stags at James M. Shuart Stadium. Game time is 7 p.m.

Notes
- Hofstra is now 27-22 all-time against Towson and snapped a two-game losing skid to the Tigers.
- Ryan Tierney posted his ninth career hat-trick and also extended his points and assists streak to seven games.
- Yanes and McIntosh extended their point streaks to seven games each while Alderman now has a four-game goal streak.
- McIntosh now has a six-game goal streak while Alderman has four and Kavanagh has a three-game run.
- Six of Concannon's seven saves came in the second half with four in the third quarter.