What seemed to be a dream-like season for the Hofstra Pride men’s lacrosse team has come crashing down to reality as they were handed their first defeat of the 2016 campaign by the Georgetown Hoyas, 11-6. Head coach Seth Tierney noted a change in the team that led to their loss.
“We didn’t deserve to win today. We didn’t play with the attention to detail that we played the last three games.”
This was the third meeting between Georgetown and Hofstra, with the Hoyas holding the series 2-1 over the Pride. Georgetown and Hofstra have had opposing seasons up to this point. Georgetown came in James M. Shuart Stadium with an 0-3 record. Granted, two of those losses came at the hands of ranked opponents, an 12-7 defeat to top-ranked Notre Dame and an 10-7 loss against eleventh-ranked Towson. Hofstra, on the other hand, had an 3-0 record coming into Saturday’s matchup, defeating UNC, Princeton, and NJIT. Coach Tierney recognized there are some certain levels of emotion that play a factor in game that pits two teams with opposite records.
“It was going to be a tall task knowing that they were 0-3 and we were 3-0 and…if you don’t approach it and deal with it during the week, it’s something you can’t create. There’s an anger at 0-3 and there’s a comfort at 3-0.”
Aside from attention to detail and lack of emotion that was missing for Hofstra, there were several other factors that were non-existent, such as lack of spreading the offense and lack of Sam Llinares.
Only three players scored for the Pride in the game: Josh Byrne, Brian Von Bargen, and Korey Hendrickson. These guys have been Hofstra’s offense thus far into the season, accounting for 24 of the Pride’s 46 goals. Against the Hoyas, these guys could only score two goals each. Several key guys were missing in the offense, including Dylan Alderman and Trevor Kupecky.
Speaking of guys missing from the offense, one player that most people would be surprised to not even register a single point in the game is Sam Llinares, but that’s exactly what happened against Georgetown. The reigning CAA Player of the Year, who’s second for the Pride in goals scored with 11, only shot the ball three times over the entire game and never tallied an assist or goal, which isn’t something people would expect from a conference Player of the Year.
Their season doesn’t get any easier, as the next opponent for the Pride will be the Buckeyes of Ohio State, who are currently 4-1 and coming off a 12-8 victory over 19th-ranked Marquette. Next week’s game is the last of Hofstra’s four-game home stand before they go on the road for two games, starting with in-city rival Stony Brook.
