2019 Men’s College Lacrosse Year In Review: #53 Hofstra Pride

With the 2019 college lacrosse season complete, it’s time to look back at how all 73 teams did during the season, along with an early look at each squad for 2020.

Note: These are not end of season rankings.

Here’s our last five Year In Review posts we’ve done:

• #58 Colgate
• #57 Monmouth
• #56 Utah
• #55 Fairfield
• #54 UMass Lowell

To see all of our posts, check out the 2019 Year In Review section on the site.

Let’s continue our 2019 Year In Review!

#53 Hofstra Pride

Conference: CAA
2019 Record: 5-9 (2-3 in CAA)
Head coach: Seth Tierney (13th Season)

Statistical Leaders

Goals: Ryan Tierney (42)
Assists: Ryan Tierney (13)
Points: Ryan Tierney (55)
Faceoffs: Brian Herber (173-of-308; 56.2%)
Ground balls: Brian Herber (100)
Caused turnovers: Michael Altmann (23)
Goals against average: Bobby Casey (10.24 GAA)
Save percentage: Bobby Casey (52%)

Personnel Losses

Key seniors departing: SSDM Mark Ellis (6 CTs, 18 GBs, 2 Gs, 1 A), A Jimmy Yanes (8 Gs, 9 As, 13 GBs, 2 CTs), D Brian Philbin (3 CTs, 17 GBs), SSDM Griffin Barnathan (5 CTs, 14 GBs, 2 As)
Senior scoring departing: 22 of 182 points (12.1%)
Senior starts lost: 26 of 140 (18.6%)

Season Summary

Hofstra lost plenty of talent from 2018, losing all but three starters from the previous year along with other key role players. And with Kevin Unterstein going to North Carolina, John Gorman returned to run the defense.

But despite a very different looking team, the Pride started 2019 strong. They won their first two games of the season, beating Lehigh by a score of 4-3 followed a week later by Utah. The following week, Hofstra took a 9-6 lead against Villanova into the fourth. And all they needed to do was to have their defense stay strong. The Wildcats tied the game up in the fourth and scored the game-winner in overtime. That was followed by The Long Island Rivalry against Stony Brook, where the Pride tied things up at 10 before the Seawolves scored a late goal to take a one-goal victory.

Losses against Georgetown and Ohio State was followed by a win over St. John’s before Hofstra suffered another one-goal loss, this time to Providence, before ending nonconference play with a defeat against Rutgers.

CAA play started well for the Pride, who showed they could easily compete in the conference. It didn’t start well with yet another one-goal loss against Towson, but was followed by a one-goal overtime victory over defending champion UMass thanks to Dylan McIntosh capping off a three-goal run. They then lost to Delaware and fell to Drexel by one goal yet again before ending the season with a win over Fairfield.

Had one of their two losses to Drexel or Towson was flipped in their favor, Hofstra would have been in the CAA Tournament. Altogether, the Pride played in seven games decided by one goal with a 2-5 record.

For a team built like the Pride, it was a solid season with Ryan Tierney being the main guy on offense with 55 points. That was more than triple that of Jimmy Yanes, who finished second on the team with 17 points. McIntosh started in eight games and was reliable when healthy. But he missed six games due to a broken jaw suffered against Villanova and the Pride went 1-5 in games he missed

Michael Altmann, Eric Wenz, and Brian Philbin started nearly every game together as a group on defense, with sophomore goalie Bobby Casey playing every second of the season. Casey and FOGO Brian Herber filled in very well for the Pride.

Looking Ahead

Unlike last offseason, Hofstra returns plenty of their key contributors. All but two of their starters are coming back this time around with Tierney, McIntosh, and freshman Whit Stopak at attack, as well as Nick Williams as a depth option. The midfield is very deep, with Ryan Kinnard, Riley Forte, Matt Elder, Sterlyn Ardrey, Bryce Tolmie, Joey Elarde, and James Philbin all returning. 11 of Hofstra’s 12 top scorers will be back in Hempstead.

Altmann, Wenz, Keegan Santos, Daniel Ochs, and Tim Hegarty all return as close defensemen or long poles, with Dominic Pryor, Corey Kale, and Kevin O’Keefe looking to take the next step as short stick defensive midfielders. Expect Herber, who took all but two faceoffs, and Casey to remain as stalwarts at the faceoff X and in goal respectively.

As many know, the CAA is a very competitive conference to play in. But while some teams lose key parts, it could be Hofstra’s time to win the conference and make their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2011.