Hofstra men's lacrosse looks for bigger accomplishments in 2011

The 2010 Hofstra men’s lacrosse season was filled with many twists and turns culminating in a third straight NCAA Tournament appearance and head coach Seth Tierney already has his mind on accomplishing more in 2011.

With Shuart Stadium being the site of one of the NCAA Quarterfinal doubleheaders in May 2011 Hofstra will have a chance to make a post season splash on its home field but  this opportunity also presents some pressure, according to Tierney. “We know the pressure of having the quarterfinals here,” said Tierney. “It is such a positive to have the quarterfinals at your site because if you can make it you’re guaranteed to play home.”

In addition to trying to make the NCAAs for a fourth straight season, another major goal is to have a strong enough regular season to earn a first round home game. This would present the Pride with an opportunity to earn its first Final Four appearance by winning two games at Shuart Stadium, a place Hofstra was 7-0 in 2010.

“The guys take pride in playing here at Shuart Stadium,” said Tierney. “It just gives them a little bit of a calming feeling, a little but of a sense of urgency on one hand and their comfort grows when they are home but unfortunately not every game is going to be played here at Shuart Stadium and we have to become a better road team and neutral site team.”

In addition to returning several key players including the Canadian attack duo of Jay Card and Jamie Lincoln, who both earned All-America honorable mention accolades, Hofstra will also boast several talented newcomers in 2011 such as Richard Rambo and Joseph Jones from Abbington High School in suburban Philadelphia. When Rambo and Jones announced their commitment to Hofstra in December the longtime friends described a comfort level with the coaching staff as being a major draw and the offensive duo went onto shine for Abbington in the high school playoffs last Saturday scoring five goals and four goals, respectively.  Another player Tierney said he is excited about bringing in is attackman Torin Varn, who has helped lead Ithaca High School to the Section 4 Class A New York championship game in early June.

One negative from the 2011 season Coach Tierney says he never wants to see repeated at Hofstra was missing the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) tournament after losing three close games on the road to Massachusetts, (UMass) Drexel and Penn State. The 2010 conference schedule was particularly challenging since only one CAA game was at home but 2011 should be more favorable with UMass, Drexel and Penn State all scheduled to pay visits to Shuart Stadium. The last two years the Delaware game has been played at the Meadowlands as part of the Big City Classic tripleheader organized by Inside Lacrosse Magazine and Tierney has not heard yet if that event will continue next year.

The 2011 schedule is still being finalized but Tierney said there will be some new opponents on it. He also said there is a good chance Hofstra will open the season against Sacred Heart. “There will be some new opponents that I can’t comment on just yet because I haven’t gotten 100 percent confirmation, but the schedule will change a little bit,” he said.