Friday, April 25, 2025
With two of its top three scorers back from a team that fell one win short of reaching the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) tournament, Hofstra men’s lacrosse entered the season with high hopes for a memorable spring.
Hofstra is so far showing promise that 2025 could produce the program’s first winning season since 2021 with a 4-2 start that has produced double digit goals in all but one game. The hot offensive start gives hope for the Pride to earn a berth into the four-team CAA playoffs later in the season after three straight years of missing out on the postseason by one game.
“We were tied for that last spot in the CAA tournament and lost a tie breaker which makes for a long summer, but it gives you the hunger to try to try to change what happened in the past,” longtime Hofstra head coach Seth Tierney said.
The Pride returned reigning leading scorer John Madsen, a senior attackman from Bayville who tallied 42 goals and 51 points last season. The Locust Valley High School product is off to another strong start this season with four points in a 15-5 win against Binghamton on March 1.
Redshift senior midfielder Rory Jones was third on the team in goals and points last season with 39. The Abingdon, Md. native tallied a hat-trick in the Binghamton blowout and four in a 17-5 blowout of Wagner on Feb. 7.
The new season has seen the emergence of junior attackman Anthony Mollica, who has become one of the leading scorers early on. The Massapequa High School graduate tallied six points in a season-opening 20-2 romp of Iona on Feb. 1 and registered three assists in the Binghamton victory.
“He is a pretty calm, cool cat and the highs aren't too high and the lows aren't too low,” Tierney said of Mollica. “He understands the offense and he's done a good job thus far of taking over what is a very, very important role.”
Freshman attackman Drew Bogardus, a standout from Berkshire School in Massachusetts who had a breakout game with seven goals in a 13-12 overtime win at St. John’s on Feb. 22. Redshirt junior midfielder Trevor Natalie has also added firepower to the offense with 12 goals through the first five games.
The defense, which returned starters Blake Cooling and Will Delaney, has held opponents to single digits in three games. The close defensive unit also features redshirt junior Ryan Kiernan, a Rockville Centre native and Chaminade alumnus who registered two caused turnovers and six groundballs in the St. John’s triumph.
“Ryan is a confident lacrosse player and he's done a good job this year of playing within the ability,” Tierney said. “He loves competing, he is confident and he is vocal out there.”
Redshirt freshman Shea Kennedy has taken over the starting goalie position and was instrumental in the overtime win against St. John’s with 12 saves. He then recorded a season-high 13 saves in the Binghamton win.
Hofstra commences CAA play at home on Saturday evening at 7 p.m. against Long Island rival Stony Brook. The conference schedule concludes against defending CAA champion Towson on April 26 for a 4 p.m. faceoff.
