Queens, NY – An explosive six-goal third quarter powered the Hofstra men's lacrosse team to a 16-12 road win over Long Island rival St. John's on a cold Saturday afternoon from DaSilva Memorial Field in Queens, New York.
 
Rory Jones and Anthony Mollica both tallied hat-tricks against the Red Storm, while Jones added an assist to finish with four points. John Madsen also finished with four points two goals and two assists, and Griffin Turner had a hat-trick of assists and scored one goal for four points. Chase Patterson put on a face-off clinic in today's game, as the senior FOGO went 20-27 from the dot and collected 14 ground balls.
 
Hofstra ups its record to 2-3 with today's win. St. John's falls to 0-3 with the defeat.
 
Madsen finished off a pass from Gerard Kane for the first goal of the game just 49 seconds into the opening quarter, but St. John's evened the score at 13:07. Hofstra pulled back in front at 9:45 off the stick of Tom Ford from the midfield line, but the score was tied once again on a man-up opportunity for the Red Storm at 8:27. Colton Rudd put the Pride in front for good at the 7:04 mark, and Ford added to Hofstra's lead with a 60-yard laser into the back of the net at 5:44. Matt Elder scored with 1:34 left on the clock, and the score would be 5-3 in favor of Hofstra after St. John's added a tally with 57 seconds remaining in the quarter.
 
The second quarter belonged to Hofstra as the Pride outscored St. John's, 4-1 and kept the Red Storm off the board for nearly the entirety of the quarter. Jones scored back-to-back goals at 13:31 and 12:46 to make it a four-goal lead, and Mollica made it a five-goal advantage with his first goal at 10:00. Justin Sykes put himself on the statsheet with a goal right on the crease off a pass from Madsen to make it four straight Hofstra goals, before St. John's ended the run at 1:14 to put Hofstra ahead, 9-4, going into halftime.
 
Hofstra broke the game wide open in the third quarter with a six-goal run that saw the visitors lead by as many as 11 over the home side. Madsen added his second tally at 13:10, and he was followed up by goals from Rudd at 12:06, Turner at 11:35, Jones at 10:59, Mollica at 9:19, and Elder at 8:59. St. John's ended the Hofstra run with a goal at 6:56, and a goal with 38 seconds left on the clock put the score at a commanding 15-6 in favor of the Pride.
 
Mollica capped off his first collegiate hat-trick at 12:33 to make it a 16-6 score-line, but St. John's attempted a comeback as Head Coach Seth Tierney began rotating many of his starters. The Red Storm scored six straight goals of their own to claw back to within four, but there wasn't enough time on the clock for the hosts to pull off the improbable come-from-behind win.
 
Trey Parkes tallied the first point of his college career on a first quarter assist to Elder. Mac Gates made nine saves between the pipes to pick up his second consecutive win of the season. Corey Kale and John Recher recorded two takeaways each to tie for the team lead.
 
Brian Kelly led all players with eight points on four goals and four assists, and Connor Kalmus scored four goals. Kyle Munson posted 14 saves for the Red Storm in the loss.
 
Hofstra returns to Shuart Stadium to host Villanova on Saturday, March 4, at noon in the first of four straight home games for the Pride. For ticket information, visit HofstraTickets.com.
 
NOTES:
-Hofstra improves its all-time record against St. John's to 19-7.
-Turner set a new personal-best with three assists.
-The Pride dominated in ground balls, 37-17.
-Hofstra was held to 0-5 on extra-man opportunities.