After winning its second consecutive game at DaSilva Memorial Field on Saturday, the St. John's lacrosse team lost its first home game of the season to Hofstra on Tuesday afternoon, 19-9.
Senior Joe Madsen led the Johnnies (3-4) with three goals, including his 100th career tally in the first quarter, becoming the fourth player in program history to reach the plateau. This week's BIG EAST Midfielder of the Week Mike Madsen finished with two goals in the losing effort.
Matt Oehl, Dylan Willis and Ryan Schaeffer each recorded a goal and an assist while Jonathan Huber added one tally to round out the Red Storm's scoring.
Junior Gavin Catalano made his first appearance of the season when starting goalkeeper Brody Agres was replaced at the start of the second half. Catalano recorded eight of the team's 13 saves on the afternoon.
Freshman faceoff specialist Jonathan Dugenio failed to claim double-digit faceoff wins for the first time this season, winning only 8 of his 26 attempts from the X. Senior Colin Bosak secured two of his season-high six faceoff attempts in the loss.
Hofstra (4-3) was led by senior Ryan Tierney who led his team with seven points (4g, 3a). Whit Stopak also scored four goals and provided two assists in Hofstra's road victory. Colton Rudd and Justin Sykes also finished with three goals. The two Pride goalkeepers, Bobby Casey and Mac Gates, collectively saved 14 shots in the winning effort.
Hofstra outshot the Red Storm 46-34 and caused five of St. John's 14 turnovers. The Johnnies finished the game 1-for-1 in extra-man opportunities and cleared 14 of their 15 opportunities. The Red Storm and Pride each turned the ball over 14 times while Hofstra won the groundball battle 33-24.
The Pride jumped out to an early 5-0 lead to start the contest behind goals from Ryan Tierney (twice), Colton Rudd, Justin Sykes, and Sterlyn Ardrey. Joe Madsen's 100th career tally put the Red Storm on the board at the 3:49 mark. Huber closed the opening frame with his 11th goal of the season off an assist from Dugenio.
Trailing 5-2 at the start of the second quarter, St. John's cut the deficit to two goals behind Joe Madsen's second goal of the game. With the score at 5-3 with 12:58 left in the half, the Pride rattled off eight consecutive goals to close out the second frame and take a 13-3 lead into the break. Stopak would go on to score three of his four tallies in the scoring run, while Ardrey (two goals), Tierney, Kyle Steinbach, and Riley Forte added tallies to extend the scoring margin to 10.
Schaeffer and Oehl would score the first two goals of the third frame to cut into the Pride's advantage and make it a 13-5 game. Hofstra's Stopak and Rudd would respond with two goals within a minute of each other to climb their team's lead back to double digits with 10:33 left in the period.
Both teams would go on to fire four goals each to close out the game. Mike Madsen went on two score his two goals, unassisted, while his brother Joe capped off his hat trick with a goal with just under four minutes left to play. Willis registered his lone tally of the afternoon mid-way into the fourth quarter, ascending his season total to seven.
The Red Storm returns to action this Saturday, March 14, when Head Coach Jason Miller's squad ventures to Hanover, N.H., to square off with Dartmouth.
- Redstorm Sports
