Hofstra men's lacrosse wins CAA opener over Delaware
Hofstra's Torin Varn, right, congratulates teammate Sam Llinares after he scored a goal in a game versus Delaware at Shuart Stadium on Saturday, March 15, 2014. Credit: James Escher
The Hofstra men's lacrosse team found itself down four goals and in a slight offensive rut early in the second quarter of its Colonial Athletic Association opener against Delaware on Saturday.
Forced into their own end for much of the quarter, the Pride looked to leading scorer Sam Llinares to help jumpstart the offense. Llinares did just that, scoring and threading a beautiful assist to spark a run that gave Hofstra a lead it would not relinquish en route to an 11-9 victory.
But after Llinares found Lance Yapor open at the top of the crease on a man-up opportunity to cut the Delaware lead to 6-4, the talented sophomore did not record another point -- he didn't play after halftime because of an apparent injury.
It was up to the rest of the Hofstra attack unit to handle the load, and it didn't hurt to get some goals from unfamiliar sources.
"We had a bunch of guys who were nicked up and we have a bunch of guys who just tightened their belts and stepped up for them," Hofstra coach Seth Tierney said.
Torin Varn, who scored three goals, cut the Hofstra (4-2, 1-0) deficit to one midway through the second quarter on a play that started with a save and long outlet pass by goalkeeper Chris Selva.
Longstick midfielder Ryan Rielly followed that up five minutes later by picking up a ground ball and making a long run up the field before scoring his first goal of the season. Rielly also had five ground balls and helped hold Delaware's lead scorer Brian Kormondy to just an assist.
"Those are the extra turbo boost things that guys get fired up about," Tierney said.
The Pride opened the second half with three straight goals, punctuated by Steven Romano's first of the season.
Though the Pride were without Llinares, the offense continued to flow.
"I think he's doing OK and we'll let the doctors do their thing," Tierney said about Llinares' condition. "They'll take care of that."
Hofstra went up 11-7 before Delaware added two late goals to provide the final margin.
"When we get points, it lifts up the morale of the team and it's really a big energy play," Rielly said. "We try to take those opportunities whenever we can."
