Hofstra softball ace Olivia Galati receiving much deserved media attention

The first place Hofstra softball team has a chance to clinch home field advantage for the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Tournament this weekend by taking two of three games at second place Georgia State. A major reason why Hofstra (34-9 and 13-1 in the CAA) is position to win a conference title and return to the NCAA Tournament after missing it for the first time since 2002 last year is ace freshman pitcher Olivia Galati, who enters the series at 20-5 with a 1.26 ERA.

Galati, the 2009 New York State Gatorade Player of the Year winner at St. John's the Baptist High School, has played like a veteran early her college softball career and is receiving well deserved media attention. On April 26 Long Island Pulse published a story on how the 5'5 Galati has made a seamless transition from high school to college pitching. Newsday and Spy Softball also penned features on Galati earlier this month. With the physical and mental toughness Galati has displayed as only a freshman there should be many more articles to come for Hofstra's ace in the circle.

Hofstra men's lacrosse in need of help to make CAA postseason

In the midst of the 15th ranked Hofstra men’s lacrosse team rallying from a 9-6 deficit to achieve a hard fought 14-10 win over Jacksonville Saturday afternoon, an even more dramatic setting in terms of the Pride’s postseason hopes was unfolding three hours away in Suburban Baltimore. In the third quarter Hofstra received some much needed help when Towson held on for a one goal win over Penn  State to momentarily prevent Hofstra’s chances of making the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Tournament from fading.

Hofstra (8-4, 1-3 in the CAA) put itself in the position of needing help from other teams after suffering an 11-10 overtime loss at Penn State a week ago after holding a 7-2 lead late in the first half. Heading into Saturday Hofstra needed three games to go its way to give the Pride a chance to control its own destiny in the regular season finale against Towson on May 1. Hofstra received some much needed help from Towson Saturday afternoon and the coaches and players will be closely keeping track of the Drexel-Delaware game at 7 p.m. Saturday night hoping that the Dragons can aide the Pride’s postseason chances. The combination of a Drexel win tonight and a Delaware victory at Penn State on Friday would put Hofstra in position where it could clinch a CAA playoff spot by simply beating first place Towson in one week at home.

Hofstra women's lacrosse stays focused in blowout over Delaware

Since the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) season began in early April Hofstra women’s lacrosse head coach Abby Morgan has preached the importance of never looking ahead. On Friday afternoon that one game at a time focus was evident as despite playing a Delaware team with a losing record two days before facing 10th ranked Towson, the Pride showed no signs of overconfidence during a dominating 15-6 win.

Sixteenth ranked Hofstra (10-4, 4-1 in CAA) had nine different scorers and dominated from the get-go against Delaware (5-10, 2-4 in CAA) not allowing a goal for the first 18:13 of the game. The win keeps Hofstra near the top of the CAA standings heading into Sunday’s critical road game at Towson.

“It is a good confidence boost, for us” said Morgan, whose team was coming off a 14-8 road loss to James Madison last Sunday. “Our attack found their flow, found their groove together and that is something we have been talking about all week.”

Hofstra baseball gearing up for key CAA series

As the Hofstra baseball team prepares itself for a critical three-game Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) series with William & Mary this weekend coming off six straight conference losses, the Pride got some confidence Wednesday afternoon with a 12-10 win over Long Island rival Stony Brook. While the pitching was a struggle for much of the game, the Pride bats exploded with 16 hits to rally from a 6-3 deficit one day after beating Army 11-9. 

After the win at University Field head baseball coach Patrick Anderson said he approaches midweek non-conference games with the theme of trying to get his players the necessary experience for CAA action.

“We’re just trying to fill innings and get some experience and hopefully get a win on top of it,” said Anderson, whose team improved to 12-20 with the win over Stony Brook to exceed last year’s win total with 17 games remaining on the schedule. “I just really feel that today’s win and yesterday’s win as well is going to allow us to be able to compete as much as possible going into the conference."

Corrine Gandolfi helps bring Hofstra women's lacrosse to high level

Courtesy Hofstra Athletic Communications 

Up until Corrine Gandolfi’s senior year at Northport High School she had visions of playing college basketball but soon realized that lacrosse was her best option at excelling at the highest level of collegiate competition. If Gandolfi had pursued basketball in college it would have most likely been at a Division II school but thanks to her decision to concentrate on lacrosse Hofstra’s senior tri-captain midfielder is playing at the highest level of the sport and is hoping to lead the 17th ranked Pride to the NCAA Tournament.
 
"Lacrosse just had a lot more opportunities for me so I chose that road," said Gandolfi. “I wouldn’t change it for anything else."
 
Hofstra women’s lacrosse head coach Abby Morgan is sure happy at Gandolfi’s decision four years ago as the Northport High School product has been an offensive force since arriving in Hempstead for the 2007 season when she earned All-Colonial Athletic Association accolades and led the Pride to its last conference title and NCAA Tournament berth. After a sophomore year plagued by a knee injury that limited some of her offensive production, Gandolfi exploded as a junior with 45 goals, which earned her First team All-CAA honors and an invite to play for United States Developmental Team.

Hofstra women's lacrosse dominates Old Dominion

A major key to the 16th ranked Hofstra women’s lacrosse team’s success in 2010 has been draw controls with the Pride fifth in the nation at grabbing these crucial possessions entering Sunday’s game against Old Dominion. Hofstra’s success on draws continued against the Monarchs with the Pride dominating this key statistical category 20-6 in a 16-8 home win to improve to 7-3 and 2-0 in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).

Part of Hofstra’s success in being able to gaining processions after goals has been the versatility of being able to deploy multiple players to take draws depending on matchups. Against Old Dominion Hofstra had 10 players win draw controls led by senior attacker Corrine Gandolfi with six.  Morgan credits Hofstra’s success in this category to her assistant coach Tanya Kotowicz, who as a player at Connecticut was second on the Huskies in draw controls during her senior year in 2005.

“She has taught these girls, 'OK this setup against this draw, this is what you do, this is where you put the people on the outside,” said Morgan of Kotowicz. “She is awesome at it.”

Hofstra men's lacrosse wins crucial CAA game over Delaware in first event at New Meadowlands Stadium

Saturday afternoon provided the unique opportunity for the Hofstra men’s lacrosse team to take part in the first event at the New Meadowlands Stadium but more importantly the contest versus Delaware was a must-win Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) game to maintain hopes of reaching the conference playoffs. After dropping its first two CAA games the Pride played with a sense of urgency against Delaware posting a 12-11 win to keep its postseason hopes very much alive with three weeks left in the regular season.

“Hofstra lacrosse lives to see another day with the destiny in their own hands,” said a relieved Hofstra men’s lacrosse head coach Seth Tierney after his team held on for a one goal win after leading 12-8 with less than seven minutes left in the game. “They knew what was on the line and they know what is on the line.”

The win over Delaware moves Hofstra (7-3, 1-2 in CAA) into fourth place in the conference standings with key contests at Penn State next week and home versus Towson on May 1 in the rear view mirror. The top four in the six-team CAA reach the conference playoffs for the right to capture league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, something Hofstra has never failed to achieve.

Hofstra women's lacrosse wins CAA opener over William & Mary

Hofstra women’s lacrosse head coach Abby Morgan made a game time decision in the Pride’s Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) opener Friday night to start senior Mary Cuddihy in net over sophomore Jackie Pandolf. The move paid major dividends as Cuddihy recorded seven saves in the first half and nine for the game to help 16th ranked Hofstra (7-3, 1-0 in CAA) build a comfortable lead in route to a 15-7 win over 19th ranked William & Mary (6-5, 0-1 in CAA).

Cuddihy gave up a goal on William & Mary’s first shot 29 seconds into the game but went on to stonewall the Tribe for the next 32:74. “She played really well,” said Morgan.

Despite Cuddihy’s solid play in net Friday night Morgan is not set to name the Manhasset High School product her starter for the CAA season and will continue the competitive goalie battle that has existed thus far in 2010. “We’ll see how [Cuddihy] does tomorrow in practice,” said Morgan. “That is how day to day it is.”

Hofstra men's lacrosse has backs against the wall heading into home stretch of season

Despite the 10th ranked Hofstra men’s lacrosse team’s 18-2 romp of Manhattan College Tuesday night the Pride have their backs pinned against the wall in the home stretch of the season in order to achieve the program's yearly goal of reaching the NCAA Tournament. Last Saturday’s 13-11 loss at Drexel left Hofstra (6-3, 0-2 in Colonial Athletic Association) with no room for a hiccup in the Pride’s final four games that begins this Saturday against Delaware in the opening of the New Meadowlands Stadium in the Big City Classic.

“We know that it is still in our hands right now where if we go 3-2 in the conference  then we are going to be in the conference tournament and we don’t have any room for any error,” said Hofstra men’s lacrosse head coach Seth Tierney in the post game press conference after his team’s blowout win over Manhattan at Shuart Stadium before 1,416 fans. “You can’t go 5-0 in your last five games unless you go 1-0 and we accomplished that tonight and now we have to go 1-0 again on Saturday.”

Hofstra currently sits in last place in the six-team CAA with three conference games remaining and only the top four reaching the playoffs for the right to capture league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Since college lacrosse began playing conference tournaments for automatic bids in 2000 Hofstra has never failed to reach the postseason.

Hofstra softball off to fast start in CAA

One year after its 11-year run of capturing a conference title came to a close the Hofstra softball team is making an early season statement in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play that the beginning of a new streak may soon be around the corner. The Pride completed its second straight weekend conference three-game sweep Saturday with a 2-0 win over George Mason to have first place all to itself in the beginning of the CAA slate.

“Anytime you can win a series it certainly helps your chances to get to the playoffs, anytime you sweep a series now you’re talking about possibly hosting it,” said Hofstra softball head coach Bill Edwards following Hofstra’s 2-0 win over George Mason thanks to a two-run sixth inning single from junior third baseman Sara Michalowski. “When [a sweep] happens it is obviously very, very gratifying.”

New Hofstra men's basketball era underway with hiring of Tim Welsh

 Courtesy Hofstra Athletic Communications
Hofstra University's national arboretum campus was in full bloom Thursday on a perfect spring day with hardly a cloud in the sky and temperatures in the 60's. The setting was just as sunny inside David S. Mack Hall when university officials kicked off a new era of Hofstra men's basketball with a press conference unveiling its new head coach Tim Welsh.

There was a feeling of immense optimism inside Mack Hall as the former Providence and Iona head coach was introduced to the Hofstra community for the first time just one week after longtime head coach Tom Pecora accepted a head coaching position at Fordham.  While coaching at the Big East level from 1998-2008 Welsh, 49, led Providence to two NCAA Tournament appearances and developed Ryan Golmes, who now plays for the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves . The Massena, N.Y native and 1984 SUNY Potsdam graduate also had success in his three years as head coach at Iona leading the Gaels to a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title and NCAA Tournament berth in 1998.

In addition to his 13 years of head coaching experience Welsh also gained valuable knowledge of what it takes to succeed as a college basketball program as an assistant at Syracuse from 1988-1991 under the legendary Jim Boeheim. "It is a great day for Hofstra athletics because this marks our hiring of Tim Welsh, who I truly believe will enable us to move our basketball success to the next level," said Hofstra University president Stuart Rabinowitz during the press conference.