Fairfield, CT – A valiant comeback attempt by the Hofstra men's lacrosse team came up just short against conference foe Fairfield, as the Pride dropped a 12-11 contest to the Stags in the first game of the Coastal Athletic Association schedule from Rafferty Stadium in Fairfield, Connecticut.
 
The loss sets Hofstra at 3-5 and 0-1 to start league play, and Fairfield moves to 4-4 and 1-0 in the CAA.
 
Sam Lutfi scored the opening goal for Hofstra less than a minute into the first quarter, but Fairfield goals at 7:18 and 6:23 gave the hosts the lead, before John Madsen finished off a pass from Griffin Turner for the tying goal with 4:22 left in the frame. The Stags scored the final two goals of the quarter to lead by two. After extra-man goals by Madsen and Fairfield's Jake Gilbert, Justin Sykes scored back-to-back goals and Lutfi buried his second to retake the lead for the Pride. Fairfield had another end-of-quarter run, scoring two goals in the final five minutes to put the halftime score at 7-6 in favor of the Stags.
 
The third quarter commenced with two Fairfield goals within the opening three minutes to set the score at 9-6 with 12:08 on the clock. Lutfi completed his hat-trick at 5:03 to make it a 9-7 game, and it would be the final goal of what was a low-scoring third quarter. After Fairfield opened the fourth quarter with another two-goal spurt just a minute apart at 10:54 and 9:54, Hofstra's comeback began with three unanswered goals from the sticks of Madsen at 7:03 on an extra-man opportunity, Turner at 6:52, and Lutfi at 6:07, bringing the Pride to within one of the Stags. A Fairfield goal at 3:25, however, made th comeback attempt more difficult as the margin grew to two. An unassisted goal by Turner at 1:25 gave the Pride another chance to tie the game, but Sykes had a shot saved at 1:15, and they wouldn't get another shot for the remainder of regulation.
 
Lutfi's four goals led the team and matched Will Consoli for the most in the game, while Madsen had a hat-trick, and Turner scored two and assisted four for six points. Rory Jones had a pair of assists, and Colton Rudd dished out an assist. Henry Troy led with two caused turnovers, and Chase Patterson scooped up five ground balls while going 13-24 on face-offs. In goal, Sean Henderson made 15 saves against the Stags, with a game-high five coming in the second quarter.
 
Consoli led Fairfield in scoring, while Bryce Ford had a team-leading three assists. Jake Gilbert scored three goals and assisted once for four points. Will Snyder got the win after making three saves in the first half of the game, while Owen Hirsch played the second half and came up with seven saves.
 
Hofstra continues CAA play on the road on Saturday, March 23, against Delaware at noon.
 
NOTES:
-Lutfi's four goals are a single-game career-high.
-The Hofstra-Fairfield all-time series record is now 8-8.
-The last three meetings have been decided by a combined four goals.