East Rutherford, NJ – Jay Card and Kevin Ford each scored three goals and Stephen Bentz added two to lead the 10th-ranked Hofstra Pride to a 12-11 CAA victory over the Delaware Blue Hens in the Konica-Minolta Big City Classic at the New Meadowlands Stadium Saturday afternoon.

The Pride, who won their second consecutive game, improve to 7-3 on the year and 1-2 in the CAA. Delaware, which dropped its second consecutive game, fall to 5-6 overall and 0-2 in league play.

Card, a junior, tallied a game-high six points on three goals and three assists with classmate Bentz adding two goals and two assists. Ford, a sophomore who returned to action after missing the previous two games with a foot injury, scored three goals and added one assist.

Hofstra sophomore goalie Andrew Gvozden stopped 11 shots in the Pride cage for his second win of the year. The Blue Hens of Delaware were led by senior Curtis Dickson with four goals while senior Martin Cahill added two assists. Junior Noah Fossner made 10 saves in the Blue Hens’ cage.

The first half featured four lead changes and five tied scores. The Pride would use a five-goal run near the end of the first half and into the third quarter to pull away from the Blue Hens. Ford opened the scoring in the contest 6:11 into the first quarter recording his seventh of the season, on a bullet from the middle of the box, for a 1-0 lead.

But the Blue Hens responded with three unanswered goals as Dickson notched his 39th and 40th goals of the year around a Nick Elsmo goal to give Delaware a 3-1 lead with 4:37 to play in the first quarter. Card would notch his first of the game and 20th of the season with 1:04 to play in the period to close the deficit to 3-2 after one quarter.

Dickson boosted the Blue Hens’ lead back to two at 4-2 with a man-up goal, from Cahill, 53 seconds into the second quarter before Hofstra scored unanswered goals by Ford, Bentz and freshman Adrian Sorichetti, in a three minute span, to take a 5-4 lead. But the Blue Hens came right back with sophomore Grant Kaleikau scoring his ninth of the year at the 6:58 mark and John Austin notching his ninth 37 seconds later to give UD a 6-5 advantage.

Hofstra’s high-scoring junior Jamie Lincoln tallied his 29th goal of the year, from Card, with 4:03 to play in the half to tie the game before the Blue Hens’ Chris Hichborn scored his eighth goal of the year less than a minute later to give Delaware a 7-6 lead.

It would be the Blue Hens last lead of the contest as Bentz would score a man-up goal, from Card, with 27 seconds to play in the half, and Card would score his second of the game and 21st of the year, from freshman face-off man John Antoniades, seven seconds later to give the Pride an 8-7 lead at halftime.

In the third quarter, Ford continued the Hofstra run with a man-up goal from Card 30 seconds in and Card completed his third hat-trick of the year seven minutes later, from Bentz, to boost the Pride lead to 10-7. Sophomore Brad Loizeaux added his 13th of the season with 5:59 to play in the third to give Hofstra the biggest lead of the game at 11-7. Dickson would score his 42nd just 35 second before the end of the quarter to close the Delaware gap to 11-8.

Hofstra senior Dan Stein gave the Pride a four-goal lead 2:34 into the fourth quarter with his sixth goal of the year. The Blue Hens closed on goals by Kevin Kaminski at the 6:38 mark and Dom Sebastian 21 seconds later to close to 12-10. But Taylor Burns’ first goal of the season with two seconds remaining was not enough as the Pride posted its fourth straight victory over their longtime conference rivals. Hofstra now leads the series, 23-10.

The Pride outshot Delaware, 34-33, with the Blue Hens picking up 31 ground balls to Hofstra’s 29. Delaware also captured 19 of 27 face-offs.

Hofstra, the CAA preseason favorite, will be looking to keep its conference tournament qualification hopes alive when the Pride return to action next Saturday, April 17 when they travel to State College, Pennsylvania to face Penn State. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The University of Delaware and Hofstra University treated Big City Classic fans to an exciting show for the second straight year on Saturday, but once again it was the Blue Hens who fell short despite an impressive late rally.

Delaware (5-6, 0-2 Colonial Athletic Association) scored three goals in the final seven minutes of action, but it wasn’t enough as the Hens dropped a 12-11 decision to No. 10 Hofstra in typical battle between the two CAA rivals.

The game was the first of three held Saturday at the new Meadowlands Stadium as part of the second annual Konica Minolta Big City Classic sponsored by Inside Lacrosse. The game was the first event held at the massive new stadium which serves as the home of the National Football League’s New York Giants and New York Jets.

After falling behind 12-8 early in the final stanza, the Hens battled back on goals by Kevin Kaminski and Dom Sebastiani just 21 second apart to cut the deficit to 12-10 with 6:17 left. Delaware scored again with just under two seconds left on a goal by Taylor Burns – his first career score – but it was too little too late for the Hens, who fell to Hofstra for the fourth straight time.

“This was your typical Delaware-Hofstra game,” said Delaware head coach Bob Shillinglaw, whose team lost its second straight game and has now lost five games by four or less goals this season. “I was proud of the intensity we brought today but we’re disappointed that we fell short. Hofstra has a lot of talent and a lot of weapons. There is so much balance in the CAA and every game, every shot, is crucial.”

Senior All-American Curtis Dickson (at right) led the Blue Hens once again as he tallied five points on four goals and one assist to increase his streaks to 20 straight games with a goal and 51 straight contests with a point. The British Columbia native entered the game ranked No. 2 in the NCAA in total goals, total points, and points per game and upped his season goal total to 42 with his seventh hat trick of the season.

No other Blue Hen managed more than one goal as Dom Sebastiani, Kevin Kaminski, Nick Elsmo, Grant Kaleikau, John Austin, Taylor Burns, and Chris Hichborn all scored. Delaware’s Martin Cahill (#22 at left) was held without a goal but dished out two assist and became the 31st player in school history to reach the 100-point plateau for a career.

Delaware dominated on faceoffs, winning 19 of 27 draws as Dan Cooney won 12 of 20 attempts and Tommy Lee won all seven of his attempts. The Hens held a 31-29 advantage in groundballs and its 33 shots was just one short of Hofstra’s total.

The Pride (7-3, 1-2 CAA), the pre-season CAA favorite, won its second straight game and posted its first league win of the season. Hofstra got a big effort from pre-season CAA Player of the Year Jay Card who scored three times and dished out three assists. Kevin Ford added three goals and an assist while Stephen Bentz scored twice and dished out two assist. Jamie Lincoln, who entered the game as the nation’s leading point producer with 5.2 per game, was held to just one goal on the day.

HEMPSTEAD, NY – The 10th-ranked Hofstra men’s lacrosse team used a six-goal run to pull away from visiting Johns Hopkins in the second half and the Pride went on to post a 14-6 victory over the Blue Jays at rain and wind-swept Shuart Stadium Saturday evening. The win improves Hofstra’s record to 2-1, while the Blue Jays slip to 4-2 with the loss.

The Pride put the game away with the six-goal run after the Blue Jays had sliced a 6-2 halftime deficit to 6-4 in less than 90 seconds early in the third quarter. Jamie Lincoln answered the mini-run by Johns Hopkins when he swept across the top of the box and took a quick pass from Jay Card and blew one inside the near post. The 7-4 lead held until the final five minutes of the period, when the Pride added two goals by Stephen Bentz and a final goal by Mike Skudin with just 1.2 seconds remaining to push the lead to 10-4 entering the final quarter.

The Pride got a goal by Adrian Sorichetti while up two men with 4:54 remaining in the first half and Lincoln blew one home from 12 yards out at the top of the box less than two minutes later to close the first-half scoring.

A 12-yard laser by senior Michael Kimmel 36 second into the third quarter sliced the deficit to 6-3 and John Greeley’s first career goal less than a minute later made it 6-4, but Lincoln’s goal three minutes later ignited the game-turning run, which lifted the Pride to their third straight win against Hopkins at home.

Lincoln led the Pride with five goals and three assists, while Card added two goals and a game-high four assists. The Pride held advantages in shots (34-19) and ground balls (28-22) and converted on 3-of-4 extra-man chances.

Senior Steven Boyle led the Blue Jays with two goals and one assist.

Note: The game was delayed 14 minutes in the first quarter when the high winds knocked the power out at the stadium.

The Blue Jays fell behind 4-1 at the end of the first quarter and trailed 6-2 at the half as the Pride scored in settled offense, in transition and with a two-man advantage in the first 30 minutes. A Mike DeNapoli goal less than five minutes into the first quarter opened the scoring, but was answered less than a minute later by Blue Jay senior Tom Duerr, who slipped through traffic from the side and slipped a five-yarder past Hofstra goalie Rob Bellairs.

Hofstra got back-to-back goals from Jamie Lincoln and Jay Card in a span of just 21 seconds midway through the quarter and Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala inserted Steven Burke in goal for the Blue Jays after Card’s goal.

DeNapoli’s second goal, which came on a quick restart after the Blue Jays were called for offsides, came less than two minutes later, but Burke proved his mettle early in the second quarter when he stuffed Card in-tight while the Pride were playing a man down and Duerr buried an extra-man goal a short time later to make it 4-2.

Hempstead, NY – Junior Stephen Bentz tallied three goals and two assists and four other Pride players added two goals as 11th-ranked Hofstra downed #19 Brown, 15-12, at James M. Shuart Stadium Saturday afternoon. The Pride evened their record at 1-1 while the Bears dropped their season opener.

Hofstra sophomore Brad Loizeaux recorded two goals and one assist while classmate Michael DeNapoli, junior Steven DeNapoli and freshman Adrian Sorichetti each added two goals. Junior Jamie Lincoln posted one goal and two assists for the Pride. Freshman goalie Rob Bellairs stopped seven shots in the Hofstra cage. The Bears of Brown were led by seniors Reade Seligman with three goals and four assists and Thomas Muldoon with four goals and one assist while junior David Hawley tallied three goals and one assist.

The Bears opened the scoring with just 1:15 remaining in the first quarter as Muldoon scored off a pass from Rob Schlesinger for a 1-0 lead-the Bears only lead of the game. The Pride took nine shots on Brown goalie Matt Chriss with the junior making eight of his 13 saves in the contest in the first quarter.

The Pride found the target in the second quarter, scoring six times to take a 6-3 lead at the intermission. Just 12 seconds into the second quarter Stephen DeNapoli scored right off the face-off to tie the game at 1-1. Less than 90 seconds later, senior Danny Stein found Bentz coming around the back of the cage for his third goal of the season and a 2-1 advantage. Muldoon tied the game from five yards out on a perfect pass across the crease from Seligmann.

But Hofstra tallied three straight goals as Sorichetti notched his third of the year from Michael Hamilton at the 11:52 mark, and Bentz tallied his second and third of the game to build a 5-2 lead. Seligmann brought the Bears back to within two with a bullet from 10 yards out off a pass from Hawley with 5:39 to play in the half but Mike DeNapoli scored an unassisted goal on a charge to the cage with 23 seconds remaining in the period to boost the Hofstra lead to 6-3 at the break.

The second half featured nine goals and just two saves by each team. Brown closed to 6-5 scoring two in the first 1:06 as Matt Greenberg and Seligman dented the twine. But the Pride responded with three unanswered goals as Lincoln posted his fifth of the year at the 12:52 mark, Steven DeNapoli tallied a man-up goal 20 seconds later, -and Tom Interlicchio posted his first of the year from Lincoln four minutes after that for a 9-5 advantage.

Brown wasn’t through as Muldoon scored his third and fourth of the game 1:40 apart to close to within two. But the Pride responded with goals from Sorichetti and Loizeaux to rebuild a four-game lead at 11-7. The Bears made things interesting in the fourth quarter, scoring four of the first five goals as Hawley scored twice and Seligman and George Sherman sandwiched a Pride goal by Jay Card in the first 5:37 to close to within one at 12-11. But Mike DeNapoli, Michael Burke and Loizeaux scored unassisted goals down the stretch to boost the Pride lead to 15-11. Hawley closed out the scoring with 1:09 to play for Brown.

The Pride outshot the Bears, 39-30, and picked up 39 ground balls to Brown’s 25. Hofstra returns to action next Saturday, March 13 when the Pride entertain the fifth-ranked Blue Jays of Johns Hopkins at 7 p.m.

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PRIDE HELP THE LONG ISLAND HOMELESS

Hempstead, NY – The Hofstra Men’s Lacrosse team took a brief break from preparing for their third scrimmage of the preseason Saturday morning (11 a.m.) at Rutgers University by taking 31 team members to the “Have a Heart for the Homeless Candlelight Vigil” at Farmingdale (NY) State College last night (Feb.11).

The event, sponsored by the Long Island Coalition for the Homeless (LICH), had the Pride joined by several other groups of volunteers, who helped set-up, sort and pack clothes and goods for both individuals and homeless shelters, deliver those goods to waiting vehicles, as well as repacking and breaking down the multi-purpose room hall at the end of the evening.

“We are truly thankful for all of our groups of volunteers,” Charles Russo, LICH Board of Directors chair said Thursday night. “The Hofstra Men’s Lacrosse team has been involved with us for several years and is always there when we need them. Seth (Tierney, head coach) and his student-athletes have been here not only for the Vigil but for our other events throughout the year as well and we greatly appreciate their service.”

The LICH (formerly the Nassau-Suffolk Coalition for the Homeless (NSCH) is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to eliminate homelessness on Long Island and improve the lives of Long Islanders who are homeless or facing homelessness. LICH was founded in 1985 as an advocacy and information/referral organization to help homeless individuals and families throughout Long Island. Since that time, LICH’s network has grown to include over 125 agencies and organizations and approximately 100 individuals.

The purpose of the coalition has expanded to include the coordination of homeless services provided by more than 125 agencies through the development of the Continuum of Care groups in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Since 1995, LICH has also coordinated applications to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for homeless funding. LICH’s successful coordination of the Continuum of Care applications have resulted in over $101 million in funding for housing and services for Long Island’s homeless since 1996. LICH has also provided technical assistance to organizations in Nassau and Suffolk Counties whose services do not meet the criteria for HUD funding, but are essential for meeting the needs of the homeless.

“We are the ones who are grateful to be involved with Mr. Russo and the great people and organizations of the Long Island Coalition for the Homeless,” Tierney said. “In our busy lives for both our staff and student-athletes, we sometimes forget the people who are less fortunate and need a helping hand. We are honored to be able to assist the LICH efforts and look forward to helping in the future.”

Homelessness is a problem on Long Island, and the numbers are steadily rising. Thousands of Long Islanders are homeless. Two-thirds are members of families; fifty percent (50%) are children. Three-quarters of Long Island’s homeless are unseen, moving from one emergency situation to the next, often living doubled or tripled up with relatives or friends. Twenty-five percent (25%) of Long Island’s homeless live on the street, in abandoned cars, vacant buildings or in dangerous housing. For more information on the LICH and how you can help, please visit their website at www.nsch.org.