Hempstead, NY - Buoyed by a strong defensive performance in the second half and a 14-save effort from Mac Gates, Hofstra comes away with a 12-6 win over St. John's in the Consolation Game of The Long Island Cup from James M. Shuart Stadium.

Today's win pushes Hofstra to 3-2, while St. John's falls to 0-4.

Gerard Kane led the way for the Pride with three goals – all in the second half – and James Philbin posted his second consecutive multi-goal game this season with two. Colton Rudd also punched in two goals on the day and added an assist for three points against the Red Storm. Bryan McIntosh led the Pride with three caused turnovers, and Brian Herber went 14-22 at the face-off circle with five ground balls and an assist.

After Philbin and St. John's midfielder Pat Ednie traded goals to start the opening quarter, the Pride earned themselves some breathing room with goals by Philbin and Corey Kale 10 seconds apart to go ahead 3-1. The Red Storm scored on a man-up opportunity to cut the lead to one, but Rudd scored with 45 seconds on the clock to put the score at 4-2 in favor of the hosts after the first quarter.

The scoreboard lit up as the teams combined for eight goals in the second quarter. St. John's cut the lead back to one at 12:33, but the Pride scored three unanswered within one minute as Rudd, Justin Sykes and Ryan Sheridan all found the back of the net to up the score to 7-3 with 8:15 left before the horn. Rory Jones snuck a shot past the St. John's keeper to make it 8-4, but the Red Storm scored the last two goals of the half to put the score at 8-6 going into the break.

Compared to the second quarter, the third quarter was a defensive showcase from both teams as neither side would tickle the twine of the net until Kane finished off a pass from Matt Elder with 58 seconds left on the clock to break the scoreless action. Kane added his second of the day from a behind-the-goal pass from Griffin Turner to end the third quarter with the Pride leading by four.

Kane completed his hat-trick at 11:24 of the fourth quarter on an unassisted strike, and Gates and the Hofstra defense continued to shut down the Red Storm offense with four saves, two caused turnovers and two forced shot clock violations. Elder iced the game for the Pride with an empty-net goal at 2:16.

Ednie and Jack Lutfi each scored twice in today's game, while Ednie added an assist for three points. Kaden Quick made 12 saves in net while picking up the loss for the Red Storm.

Hofstra will hit the road for the first time this season when they travel to Philadelphia to take on Villanova on Saturday, March 5. Face-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. on FloLive.

NOTES:
-Hofstra improves to 18-6 all-time against St. John's, and this was Hofstra's sixth win in the last eight meeting against the Red Storm.
-Gates has finished with 10+ saves in four games this season, and it was the seventh game of his Hofstra career with 10+ saves.
-This marked the first time Hofstra shut out an opponent in the second half since the Pride blanked Manhattan on February 24, 2015.
-Hofstra held a 37-28 advantage in ground balls and a 37-32 advantage in shots.