Hofstra falls in CAA semi to Delaware

When Ian Braddish's dump pass to Jamie Lincoln on the doorstep failed to connect, and the clock ran out on Hofstra Wednesday night at Shuart Stadium, Braddish and teammate Kevin Ford fell to their knees, heads down, spirits crushed. Wounded Pride.

No. 8 Hofstra scored two goals in the final minute, but its desperate rally fell short and the Pride was stunned by Delaware for the second time this season, 10-9, in the CAA semifinals. Those are the only two losses for Hofstra (13-2) and it now must wait -- "pray," coach Seth Tierney said -- for the NCAA to announce the at-large teams for the NCAA Tournament on Sunday night. "We hope they'll look at our body of work and call our name at 9 o'clock," Tierney said.

Hofstra appeared to need an alarm clock to jar it to life at times Wednesday night. Delaware led 5-2 at the half, 7-3 with 5:16 left in the third and 10-7 with 2:35 left when the Blue Hens (10-6) scored into an empty net as Hofstra pulled its goalie in a desperate effort to force a turnover.

The game seemed over at that point. Then, suddenly, it wasn't. With exactly 1:00 remaining, Ford (Floral Park) scored his fifth of the game to make it 10-8. After a faceoff win by John Antoniades (St. Anthony's), Lincoln scored to the short side to make it 10-9 with 44 seconds left.

Antoniades won another draw and with 23.2 seconds left, Tierney called timeout. Braddish, the former West Islip star middie who transferred in from North Carolina last summer, made a double-dodge move to shake free and fired a low shot that was saved by Noah Fossner. But Jay Card made a spectacular check on the goalie to dislodge the ball and give the Pride possession with 13 seconds left.

Ford took a shot that went wide, but Hofstra kept the ball. Card worked it to Lincoln who found Braddish on top for a final, futile foray. "A lot of Hofstra heart," Tierney said of the final minute. "There was no quit out there. We got it to one. We got possession. We got a timeout. We got a good look."

But it was a bad outcome that leaves Hofstra's NCAA Tournament fate in someone else's hand. "They took it to us early," Tierney said. "But we got 38 shots. There were only 11 saves. We just didn't bury some that we should have."

Are they buried for good? Barring upsets in other conference tournaments, Hofstra still stands a good chance of earning an at-large bid. Tierney would take that. "We should be in that discussion," he said.

Then he added, with a catch in his throat, "They're 13-2. But they're upstairs crying right now." An NCAA Tournament bid would restore the Pride.