Hempstead, NY - Under the bright lights of James M. Shuart Stadium, the Hofstra men's lacrosse team suffered a 13-6 defeat to visiting Navy in a Friday night non-conference tilt. The loss puts Hofstra at 2-1 on the year, while Navy moves to 2-1.

Matt Elder scored a hat-trick against the Midshipmen, while Justin Sykes, Dylan McIntosh and Rory Jones all found the back of the net once against Navy. Mac Gates made 11 stops in tonight's game, including nine in the first half, and Chase Patterson led the way with a 12-19 showing at the face-off circle and eight ground balls.

Navy came out of the opening whistle and scored the first two goals of the game before Elder put Hofstra on the board at 5:52 of the first quarter before the Midshipmen closed out the first half with six unanswered goals to go into the halftime break ahead, 7-1.

Navy upped its lead to seven nine seconds into the third quarter, but Hofstra stopped the bleeding with Elder's second of the night and a tally from McIntosh. The Midshipmen closed out the third quarter with a 3-0 run. Hofstra responded with a 3-0 run of their own as Jones snuck around the right side of the cage and scored the second goal of his young Hofstra career, Elder completed his hat-trick, and Sykes bowled over a Navy defender and finished low to bring the Pride to within five with 9:59 still on the clock. Unfortunately, the positive momentum wouldn't last as Navy scored two goals within a minute and closed out the final 6:29 for the win.

Dane Swanson led the Midshipmen with four goals and an assist, while Henry Tolker scored three and assisted once. Pat Ryan made seven saves for Navy.

Hofstra's run of home games continues next Friday, February 25, with a 3 p.m. contest against LIU on FloLive in the first of four games of the Long Island Cup, featuring the Pride, LIU, St. John's, and Stony Brook. For ticket information, visit HofstraTickets.com, call (516) HOF-TIXX or stop by the Hofstra Athletics Ticket Office in the lobby of the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex during normal business hours. 

NOTES:
-Hofstra's all-time record against Navy now stands at 6-14. This was the first meeting between these two programs since 1999.
-The ground ball battle was an even 30-30 split.
-Hofstra held Navy to 0-2 on extra-man opportunities.
-With one goal, Dylan McIntosh recorded a point for the sixth-consecutive game.
-Bryan McIntosh caused two Navy turnovers, giving him 101 caused turnovers for a career.