Canada connection to lift Stony Brook, Hofstra

Think Long Island is the hotbed of lacrosse? For Hofstra and Stony Brook, the sizzle is being supplied by players from Canada.

Hofstra is going for its third straight trip to the NCAA Tournament and Stony Brook will try for its first postseason bid since 2002. The firepower will come from players who sound more like the Islanders than Long Islanders.

Stony Brook's scoring machine is led by a pair of juniors, attack Jordan McBride and midfielder Kevin Crowley. Both live just outside Vancouver.

Crowley played lacrosse against Islanders rookie John Tavares, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 NHL draft. "He was amazing. He was awesome,'' Crowley said.

McBride admires Tavares' uncle John, who is a big star in the National Lacrosse League. "That's what I want to do when I graduate," McBride said.

McBride (42 goals, eight assists), Crowley (28 goals, 23 assists) and two other Canadians, midfielder Robbie Campbell (21 goals, 12 assists) and attack Kyle Belton (18 goals, four assists), totaled 156 points last season, but Stony Brook was denied an NCAA bid when it lost to Maryland-Baltimore County, 11-7, in the 2009 America East title game.

This year, the Seawolves expect a different result. "We are light years ahead of where we were. We feel like we have all the pieces," coach Rick Sowell said. "We have an offense, we are very good at faceoffs and I feel like our defense is strong."

McBride had eight goals and two assists Saturday in Stony Brook's season-opening 21-14 victory over visiting Siena. Crowley had four goals and five assists, Campbell had three goals and two assists and Belton two goals.

Hofstra is led by Jay Card, a junior from Ontario. He was the player of the year in the Colonial Athletic Association in 2009 and this season will be joined by fellow Canadian Jamie Lincoln, a transfer from Denver. The Canadian connection continues with midfielders Michael Burke and Adrian Sorichetti.

Hofstra has a familiar rival in Massachusetts as the reconfigured CAA adds the Minutemen and Penn State to make it a six-team league.

"We have a pretty good rivalry with UMass already," Card said. "But I am sure that our rivalry with UMass will become more intense in the CAA. I think being a CAA member will be a big boost for Penn State and we expect them to be in the battle for a conference tournament bid.

"As a team, we have some high expectations this year. But we also know that every game will be a battle. To be successful, we will need to be focused and ready every day, both in practices and in games."