Junior Mike Malave scores in overtime to give number 14 Hofstra the 10-9 win and hand sixth-ranked Cornell its third straight loss on senior day this past Saturday in Hempstead.
“I look at the articles from the beginning of the season every week before we play and it just reminds me of where we came from and these guys they’ve done an unbelievable job,” Head coach Seth Tierney said.
With the win, Hofstra now improves to 9-3, while Cornell drops to 9-3 with its third straight loss and nine-goal game.
It was a special day for the seniors who were honored in a pre-game ceremony and given a frame with each of their jerseys as keepsakes for devoting their time and dedication to the program. Particularly for one senior, Ithaca native Torin Varn who had three goals on the day for the Pride felt it was even more special playing a team in the town where he grew up.
“Cornell used to have a special place in my heart,” Varn said. “It was a privilege watching them growing up and I have the upmost respect of the program but I’m at Hofstra right now and couldn’t be happier.”
It was a game of runs for both teams after a slow start in the first. Cornell got on the board first jumping out to a 2-0 lead to end the quarter with goals from seniors Joe Paoletta and Dan Lintner. Just 12 seconds in, Cornell scored its only extra-man goal.
The Pride did not stay quiet as senior Drew Coholan scored off of a pass from sophomore Korey Hendrickson seconds after the EMO finished followed by Malave’s first of the game still trailing 3-2.
Hofstra then scored four more in the quarter with the tying goal from Malave to make it 4-4. Hendrickson scored with 2:12 left to go in the half to give Hofstra its first lead of the game and then assisted Varn on his second with 0:51 to go before the break.
The third quarter saw a lot of defensive effort between both teams as neither Hofstra nor Cornell scored until Varn shot one past Big Red goalie Christian Knight with 0:10 left to give Hofstra a 7-4 lead.
Cornell revived itself and went on a five-goal run in the fourth to regain the lead 9-7. Paoletta scored two back-to-back followed by Edmonds and senior Dan Lintner.
The Big Red were held to just nine goals for the third game in a row as Coholan cut the defecit to one and sophomore Sam Llinares found the back of the net to tie it up with 1:06 left on the clock. Both teams went into sudden death overtime until Malave scored to earn the Pride the victory.
“The winner wasn’t exactly how we drew it out,” Malave said. “It kind of just bounced out and saw a little something, had to trust it and go with it.”
Cornell’s Paoletta had four goals, Edmonds had three and Lintner added two. Matt Donovan had two assists while Connor Buczek and Doug Tesoriero each had one. Knight had 10 saves for the Big Red.
Hofstra went 3-4 on the man-up while Cornell, a team ranked seventh in man-up offense, went 1-3 with the extra man. Cornell outshot the Pride 39-34 and picked up 33 ground balls to Hofstra’s 21. The Pride was perfect on clears while the Big Red went 16-18 on the day.
Tesoriero won 13-of-21 face-offs and Pride freshman Kris Clarke won 8-of-21. Chris Selva had 11 saves for the Pride.
The Pride is now 6-16 in their last 22 games against teams that were ranked sixth or better, dating back to the 1999 season.
“The stats don’t tell the story but the play that Lance makes to check the ball out of bounce in overtime we get to call a timeout, call a play, come out of the huddle to tie it up we ran a play and the guys just stayed the course,” Tierney said.
Hofstra returns to Colonial Athletic Association play on Saturday as they travel to UMass to take on the Minutemen.
