Hofstra thumps Manhattan in men's lax

When facing an overmatched team, a top-10 program is supposed to do two things: Win, and do so convincingly.

With the sub-.500 Manhattan College playing the part of "overmatched opponent," the Hofstra men's lacrosse team established its dominance early and never relented. The Pride outscored the Jaspers by five goals in the first quarter on its way to a 13-8 non-conference win at Shuart Stadium.

Jamie Lincoln and Jay Card each scored three goals as the Pride won its 14th straight at Shuart.

The Pride (9-1, 2-1) entered last night's game ranked seventh is the USILA Division I coaches poll and eighth in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse media poll.

So in facing Jaspers (3-9, 2-0), Hofstra could ill-afford to relax.

"With all due respect, it was less about Manhattan," said coach Seth Tierney. "It was more about Hofstra and playing for the guys to the right and to the left and making sure you don't disappoint."

Lincoln, last week's CAA player of the week, followed Saturday's five-goal performance against Towson with a goal less than three minutes into the game. Card and Ian Braddish scored for an early 3-0 lead. The Pride built a 10-2 halftime lead as Card and Lincoln combined for six before both took breathers for much of the second half.

While the Pride has been ranked in the top-10 since the start, the lopsided nature of the game allowed for some extra playing time for the second unit. Backup goaltender Robert Bellairs replaced starter Andrew Gvozden in the third quarter.

The Jaspers cut the lead to 12-5 with 10:40 left in the game, but Adam Mojica responded 13 seconds later with his first goal of the season. Three Jaspers goals in the final 2:28 minutes cut the margin of victory to five. But Hofstra did little to relinquish its status among the elite.