Hofstra can't hold off No. 8 UNC
Hofstra attacker Mike DeNapoli looks to pass against St. John's during the NCAA Division I men's lacrosse game. (March 20, 2012) Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Hofstra men's lacrosse went toe-to-toe with one of the nation's best. In the end, North Carolina proved to be just a bit too much.
The No. 8 Tar Heels rallied to beat the Pride, 12-9, Saturday at American Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte. Sophomore Lance Yapor led the team with four goals.
"Carolina is deeper and a little longer than us, and it wore on us," Hofstra coach Seth Tierney said. "In the fourth quarter, we started to run out of gas. Outside of the score, I don't know if I would have changed anything. This gives us a shot in the arm."
Hofstra (6-6) tied the game at 3 on a goal from Yapor with 5:29 left in the first half. Trailing 4-3, the Pride scored twice in the final 56 seconds, including a goal from Mike Malave with 4 seconds left, to take a 5-4 halftime lead.
Malave's third goal of the game with 13:55 left in the fourth quarter gave Hofstra a 9-7 cushion. UNC (9-4, 1-2 ACC) scored five unanswered goals and took the lead for good when Marcus Holman got his fifth goal of the game with 9:35 remaining. The Tar Heels had a 41-28 advantage in shots, as the the Pride was outgunned down the stretch.
Hofstra returns to play No. 2 UMass on Saturday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. A loss against the Minutemen would be damaging to Hofstra's playoff hopes.
"To come off a game like UNC on live television and have five or six freshmen running around out there, it gives us a lot of confidence going into the next game," Tierney said.
