Hofstra’s rally falls short in loss to Ohio State in lacrosse opener

Hofstra was haunted by a ghastly first quarter against Ohio State on Saturday afternoon, but the Pride did not hide.

Instead, it erased all but one of a five-goal deficit on the road against a Buckeyes team that played in the national championship game last Memorial Day, before falling, 9-7, in its first men’s lacrosse game of the season.

“I thought we scared them a little bit. They hadn’t been scared all season,” Hofstra coach Seth Tierney said of Ohio State, which improved to 3-0 and entered the game ranked No. 6 in the country.

The Buckeyes, who lost to Maryland in last season’s title game, got off to a roaring start behind Tre Leclaire, who scored two goals with two assists in the early flurry.

Jimmy Yanes (three goals) finally scored Hofstra’s first goal of 2018 6:33 into the second quarter. Ryan Tierney (two goals, one assist) tallied 1:25 later and for the rest of the game, Hofstra outshot the Buckeyes.

Yanes scored twice in the third quarter to make it 7-5 and Jack Concannon, who made nine saves, came up with a point-blank stop with the Pride down two men late in the period. Then early in the fourth quarter, Brendan Kavanagh scored a man-up goal to make it 7-6.

The Pride threatened but could not tie it. “We hit a pipe and we hit a knee cap,” Seth Tierney said. “We could’ve swung it the other way.”

But John Kelly and Colin Chell scored for Ohio State, rendering Tierney’s low-to-high blast with 49 seconds left inconsequential.

“We didn’t change anything, we just settled in,” Seth Tierney said. “It was our first quarter of the season; it was their ninth. But no excuses. We’ve got to be ready.”

Hofstra’s next game is its home opener on Saturday against 16th-ranked Villanova. “I’m proud our guys didn’t break,” Tierney said. “To come out here on a pretty big trip against a really good team and come back the way we did, it’s something to build on.”