Ryan Tierney leads Hofstra over Stony Brook in men's lacrosse showdown
Hofstra attacker Ryan Tierney is defended by Stony Brook long-stick midfielder Kyle Abdellatif in an NCAA men's lacrosse game at James M. Shuart Stadium on Tuesday, March 21, 2017. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
In a matchup of Long Island’s top two men’s lacrosse programs, Hofstra wanted to prove which school owns the area.
The Pride, ranked No. 7 in the country, left Tuesday night as one of only four undefeated teams in the Top 25 after an 11-9 victory over Stony Brook at James M. Shuart Stadium in non-conference play to improve to 7-0 for the first time in school history.
“It was electric out there,” coach Seth Tierney said. “It was a huge game because it was the next game but we also knew there was a little more juice to it.”
“It’s a bragging rights game,” attack Ryan Tierney said.
Hofstra jumped out to a comfortable early lead using a 5-1 second period to take a 7-3 lead into halftime and extending that advantage to 10-4 after the third. But Stony Brook stormed back, scoring three goals in a span of three minutes, 24 seconds to cut the score to 10-7 with 7:11 left in the game.
Then it was newcomer Ryan Tierney, a freshman from Massapequa and the coach’s son, who ended the run with his fourth goal of the game coming with 4:29 remaining in the contest.
“We did a great job for three quarters,” Seth Tierney said. “We knew they were going to come back with a rush and each time you go through these, it’s another experience and we are going to keep learning from it.”
Hofstra lost last season’s matchup to Stony Brook 13-5 in their first meeting in eight years and never forgot that performance. Junior goalkeeper Jack Concannon, a St. Anthony’s graduate from Lindenhurst, continued his impressive season making 17 saves, including multiple point-blank shots and fending off a Stony Brook two-man advantage late in the game.
“I had a lot of motivation coming into this game,” Concannon said. “I didn’t play my best last year, it was rough one all around for us.”
Josh Byrne had a goal and three assists and Dylan Alderman added two goals and two assists for Hofstra. Jimmy Yanes had three first-half goals on three shots to give the Pride the early advantage.
Faceoffs, which has hampered Stony Brook recently, hurt the Seawolves again as Hofstra held a 16-8 differential on draws.
Stony Brook (4-3) has lost three straight after its first 4-0 start in school history. Ryan Bitzer of Riverhead led the Seawolves with two goals and four assists and Alex Corpolongo added three goals in the loss.
Hofstra looks to continue its undefeated season with a home matchup with St. John’s Saturday at 7 p.m.
