Philadelphia, PA - A run of five unanswered Drexel goals in the second half spelled trouble for the Hofstra men's lacrosse team as the 20th-ranked Pride were downed, 12-8, by the No. 12 Dragons from Vidas Field Saturday afternoon.

The loss puts Hofstra at 6-5 overall and 3-4 in the Colonial Athletic Association as the conference playoffs edges closer. For Drexel, they improve to 7-2 overall and 5-2 in the CAA with their sixth straight win.

Hofstra jumped out to a 2-1 lead early in the first quarter thanks to tallies by senior James Philbin and junior Sterlyn Ardrey, but the Dragons put three straight in the back of the net to end the first quarter leading 4-2. Ardrey found the back of the net for the second time to start the second quarter, but Drexel's defense and goalkeeping by Ross Blumenthal kept the Pride off the scoresheet for the remainder of the quarter. The Dragons would score twice to go ahead, 6-3, at the end of the half.

Graduate student Justin Lynskey rippled the twine and Ardrey completed his hat-trick to bring the Pride back to within one before Drexel scored. Junior Ryan Sheridan beat Blumenthal for Hofstra's third goal of the quarter before Drexel scored to put the Pride within two of the Dragons. Drexel scored four straight to start the fourth quarter and put Hofstra in a 12-6 hole. Philbin scored his second and senior Bryce Tolmie scored an acrobatic goal to cut the deficit to four, but the Pride was unable to find the back of the net again before the clock hit zero.

Ardrey and Philbin paced the Pride with three and two goals, respectively, while Lynskey, Sheridan and Tolmie all scored once. Lynskey and senior Ryan Tierney both finished with one assist each. Senior Brian Herber led the team with four ground balls, and Tierney and Tomie tied for the team lead in caused turnovers with two each. Redshirt senior Bobby Casey made 10 saves in today's game, the fourth time Casey has recorded double-digit saves this season.

Jack Mulcahy and Reid Bowering both finished with three goals for the Dragons, while Aidan Coll and Luke Tolmak scored twice each. Blumenthal made 12 saves in net for Drexel.

The Pride will wrap up the regular season at home on Friday, April 30, with a clash against Fairfield at 7:30 p.m. on the Lax Sports Network. The Pride claimed a 15-7 win over Fairfield on March 26 from Fairfield, Connecticut.

Notes:
-Hofstra moves to 24-9 all-time against Drexel following today's result.
-Ardrey scored the second hat-trick of his collegiate career and the first since scoring three against Providence on March 16, 2019.
-Ryan Tierney finished with one assist in today's game, extending his run of consecutive games with at least one point to 32.
-The Pride outshot Drexel, 41-38, while Drexel finished with 22 shots on goal to Hofstra's 20.
-Hofstra went 13-22 from the face-off circle, with Herber going 11-20 and sophomore Chase Patterson going 2-2.