HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. - Junior Stephen Bentz tied a career high by scoring five goals, including three in the third quarter, as 15th-ranked Hofstra University (9-4, 2-3) held off several rallies by 11th-ranked Towson University (6-7, 4-1) to edge the Tigers by a 12-10 margin in the regular season finale for both teams at James M. Shuart Stadium on Saturday evening.
It was the Pride's third win in their last four games while handing the Tigers their second consecutive loss.
"It's a long way to travel to lose," Towson Coach Tony Seaman said. "Congratulations to Hofstra. They needed that win badly. I hope the NCAA committee takes a look at their body of work for the entire season."
After the teams traded goals in the opening seven minutes, the Pride took a 4-1 lead by scoring three consecutive goals in a two-minute span. Senior midfielder Tom Interlicchio scored an unassisted goal to give Hofstra a 2-1 lead with 6:52 remaining in the first quarter before Bentz followed by converting a pass from sophomore attackman Kevin Ford just 42 seconds later.
Sophomore midfielder Brad Loizeaux upped the Pride advantage to 4-1 when he scored an unassisted goal with 5:11 left in the opening stanza, forcing the Tigers to call a timeout.
Freshman attackman Matt Hughes cut the Tigers' deficit to 4-2 with his ninth goal of the season, an unassisted marker past sophomore goalkeeper Andrew Gvozden with 1:37 remaining in the opening period
Bentz regained the Pride's three-goal advantage early in the second quarter when he scored off a pass from Ford. However, graduate student midfielder Christian Pastirik answered with 6:07 left in the first half with his second goal of the game off an assist from junior attackman Tim Stratton, narrowing the margin to 5-3 at the intermission.
Ford and Bentz started the third quarter by scoring back-to-back unassisted goals to give Hofstra a 7-3 advantage with 8:15 remaining in the third quarter. But, the Tigers answered with goals by Stratton and sophomore midfielder Carl Iacona just 22 seconds apart to close the gap to 7-5.
But, Bentz took advantage of a Tiger turnover to score his fourth goal of the game, an unassisted marker with 5:28 remaining in the period.
After junior midfielder Peter Mezzanotte scored off a feed from Pastirik with 4:01 left in the third period, Bentz answered with his fifth goal of the game just eight seconds later to give Hofstra a 9-6 cushion.
But, Pastirik led the Tigers on a three-goal run to tie the game at 9-9 by scoring twice, including an unassisted marker with 8:29 remaining in the fourth quarter which tied the game.
However, the Pride countered by scoring three goals in a four-minute span to secure the victory. Senior midfielder Will Harrington ended the scoring with a man-down goal with nine seconds remaining.
While Bentz led the Pride with his five goals, Ford added two goals and two assists for the Pride, who defeated the Tigers for the fifth time in the last six meetings.
Pastirik scored a career-high four goals and added two assists in a losing effort for the Tigers while Stratton contributed a goal with two assists. Harrington scored twice for the Tigers, who were outshot by a 32-30 margin.
The Tigers will return home to host the University of Massachusetts in the semi-finals of the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament on Wednesday night at Johnny Unitas® Stadium at 7:30 p.m. The 10th-ranked Minutemen, who lost to Towson by a 10-9 margin on April 10, earned the fourth seed in the CAA Tournament after their 12-6 loss against 14th-ranked Drexel on Saturday afternoon.
Drexel will travel to Delaware for the other semi-final on Wednesday night. The semi-final winners will meet at the site of the highest remaining seed for the CAA Championship Game on Saturday, May 8.
College Men's Lacrosse: #15 Hofstra University 12, #11 Towson University 10
Towson (6-7, 4-1) 2-1-4-3 / 10
Hofstra (9-4, 2-3) 4-1-4-3 / 12
Goals: TOW - Christian Pastirik 4, Will Harrington 2, Tim Stratton 1, Carl Iacona 1, Peter Mezzanotte 1, Matt Hughes 1; HOF - Stephen Bentz 5, Kevin Ford 2, Jamie Lincoln 1, Steve DeNapoli 1, Dan Stein 1, Brad Loizeaux 1, Tom Interlicchio 1. Assists: TOW - Christian Pastirik 2, Tim Stratton 2, Matt Lamon 1, Pat Britton 1; HOF - Jay Card 2, Kevin Ford 2, Adam Mojica 1. Saves: TOW - Travis Love 8 (59:17, 11 goals allowed), David Edens 0 (0:43, 1 goals allowed); HOF - Andrew Gvozden 4 (60:00, 10 goals allowed). Shots: TOW - 30: HOF - 32. Extra-Man Opportunities: TOW - 1 for 3; HOF - 1 for 3. Attendance: 2,836.
Post-Game Notes:
- Hofstra now leads the all-time series by a 23-18 margin.
- The Tigers have played in nine games this season decided by three goals or less ... They are now 6-3 in those games, including a 5-2 record in games decided by two goals or less.
- The Tigers have lost all five games when allowing the game's first goal.
- The Tigers played a nationally-ranked opponent for the eighth time this season and are now 2-6 in those games.
- The Tigers matched a season high by scoring four goals in the third quarter on Saturday ... They also had four goals in the third quarter against Bucknell on February 27.
- The Tigers allowed a season-high four goals in the third quarter against Hofstra on Saturday ... It is the third time this year that the Tigers have allowed four goals in the third quarter.
- Iacona extended his goal-scoring streak to five straight games with a goal against the Pride.
- Harrington has scored a goal in all 13 games for the Tigers this season ... He is the only Tiger to score a goal in every game.
- Pastirik extended his point-scoring streak to 13 straight games ... He has scored in each of the Tigers' last four games ... Pastirik and Harrington are the only Tigers to record a point in all 13 games this season.
- Mezzanotte snapped a streak of 14 straight games without a goal with his marker in the third quarter ... It was his first goal since the Tigers' loss at Penn last April.
