Columbus, Ohio – Despite a strong second half, the Hofstra men's lacrosse team fell 12-10 to #18 Ohio State on Saturday from Ohio Stadium. Freshman Kyle Steinbach tied a career-high for goals scored in a game with two, and sophomores Whit Stopak and Sterlyn Ardrey also found the back of the net twice for Hofstra in the tough road loss.

The loss drops the Pride's record to 3-3 on the year, while the Buckeyes improve to 4-3 in 2020.

Stopak opened the scoring with his sixth goal of the season a little over two minutes into the game, but the Buckeyes went on a five-goal run lasting throughout the remainder of the first quarter and five minutes into the second before senior Ryan Tierney scored an unassisted strike 10 seconds into the quarter. Two more Buckeye goals pushed the score to 7-2 until Steinbach scored his first at 4:08. Ohio State found the back of the net again with 1:44 remaining on the clock, and the Pride trailed 8-3 at the whistle.

Junior James Philbin finished off a pass from Tierney for a goal 33 seconds into the third quarter, and it would start a three-goal run for the Pride to move to within two goals of the host Buckeyes. Steinbach and freshman Sam Lutfi both found the back to the net to put the score at 8-6 halfway through the third. Ohio State snapped the run at 6:51 before Ardrey scored his first over three minutes later, but the Buckeyes scored three straight goals going into the final quarter to put the score at 12-7.

Junior Brian Herber scored straight from a face-off at 11:19 to make it a 12-8 scoreline, and neither team scored until a low shot from Ardrey at 2:03 in the game. Stopak received a pass from freshman Justin Sykes to make it a 12-10 game, but the Pride couldn't put any more shots past the Ohio State goalkeeper and the game ended with the Pride taking their third loss of the season.

Herber led the Pride with six ground balls as he went 13-26 from the face-off circle. Senior Eric Wenz paced the defense with three caused turnovers, and redshirt junior Bobby Casey made nine stops in today's contest. Griffin Hughes led the Buckeyes with four points on three goals and one assist, and Josh Kirson made 19 saves for the hosts.

Hofstra is back in action on Tuesday, March 10 at St. John's University. The opening face-off between the Pride and the Red Storm is scheduled for 3 p.m. from DaSilva Memorial Field.

Notes:
-Saturday's game was the seventh all-time meeting between Hofstra and Ohio State. The Buckeyes now hold a 4-3 advantage over the Pride.
-Tierney moves to three points shy of tying Sam Llinares for sixth-most points in a career and three points behind Jerry Simandl for third-most goals in a career at Hofstra.
-Hofstra outshot its opponent (46-40) for the sixth-straight game.