Junior Sam Llinares had two goals and five assists and senior Mike Malave added four goals for the Pride but Mike MacDonald tallied five goals and four assists to lead Princeton to a 14-12 victory over Hofstra at snowy Class of ’52 Stadium Saturday afternoon.
Llinares set career-highs with the five assists and seven points, topping four assists against Marist and Penn State last season and five points done several times. Malave, who tallied five goals at UMass last season, posted the second most of his career. Junior Korey Hendrickson added two goals and one assist for the Pride. Senior Chris Selva made six saves in the Pride goal. Hofstra slipped to 0-2 on the young season.
For Princeton, MacDonald, who tallied four goals and one assist against Hofstra in a Tiger victory in 2014, tied his career-high with nine points. The senior notched four of Princeton’s tallies in the pivotal seven-goal third quarter for the Tigers. Sophomore Zach Currier added three goals and two assists and senior Kip Orban posted three goals and one helper for Princeton. Senior goalie Eric Sanschagrin recorded a career-high 16 saves including nine in the first half. The Tigers are now 2-0 on the year.
A snow-covered field and a 26-degree temperature created a slow-paced first quarter as both teams did their best to get some traction on the field and on the scoreboard. Princeton scored first as senior Kip Orban notched his third of the year from 10 yards out at the 11:51 mark. But Hofstra responded with a goal by freshman Dylan Alderman, off a pass from the back by classmate Brendan Kavanagh, just 1:07 later. It was Alderman’s second of the season. The Pride took a 2-1 lead with 3:06 to play as Llinares notched his third of the season.
But the Tigers responded with four unanswered goals as Orban scored with 1:05 to play in the first, Currier scored back-to-back goals in the first 4:49 of the second quarter and sophomore Bear Altemus scored with 8:33 to play in the half for a 5-2 lead.
Hofstra then scored the next three goals as sophomore Trevor Kupecky notched his first collegiate goal three minutes later, senior pole Ryan Rielly scored, for the second consecutive game, off the ensuing face-off, and Malave tallied the first of his three man-up goals on the day to tie the contest at 5-5 with 4:35 to play in the half. But Orban’s goal with 46 seconds remaining in the period gave the Tigers a 6-5 lead at halftime.
The first 4:17 of the third quarter was a series of exchanging goals as MacDonald tallied a man-up goal before Llinares got it back for Hofstra 35 seconds later. Then Gavin McBride scored his third of the season before Malave got it back for Hofstra at the 10:43 mark to bring the Pride to within one at 8-7. Then the roof caved in on Hofstra.
The Tigers tallied five unanswered goals over the next 5:12 to open up a 13-7 lead. Currier started the run at the 9:57 mark before MacDonald tallied the next three, including a man-up goal, and McBride added a man-up goal with 4:45 remaining in the period to close out the scoring in the third.
Hofstra didn’t quit and came out in the fourth quarter with three unanswered goals as Hendrickson and Malave tallied man-up goals and sophomore Kris Clarke scored off the face-off to bring the Pride back to within three at 13-10 with 12:08 to play. But MacDonald scored his fifth of the game just 12 seconds later for Princeton to stop the Hofstra momentum.
Malave scored a man-up goal 49 seconds later for the Pride but the Tigers kept Hofstra off the board until the last minute when Hendrickson scored on the man-up for the 14-12 final. Princeton killed off a two-minute, non-releasable penalty in the fourth that dashed the Pride’s hopes for a comeback.
Hofstra outshot the Tigers, 41-34 and picked up 31 ground balls to Princeton’s 21. The Pride was five-for-seven on the man-up and won 16 of 29 face-offs behind Kris Clarke.
Hofstra returns to action on Tuesday, February 24 when the Pride entertain the Jaspers of Manhattan College at James M. Shuart Stadium. Game time is 4 p.m.
