HEMPSTEAD, NY (February 18, 2012) — Sacred Heart featured a balanced offensive attack with eight different Pioneers finding the back of the cage but came up short of a season-opening upset falling 10-9 to the #14 ranked Hofstra Pride Saturday afternoon in Hempstead, NY.  SHU stood toe-to-toe with the ranked Pride and sat tied 5-5 at the half but a Hofstra four-goal third quarter was too much to overcome en route to the loss.

Hofstra's John Antoniades won the opening faceoff and dished the ball out to Torin Varn who netted the first goal of the game just seven second into play.  Sophomore Tom Sardelli (Rochester, MI) quickly answered just over a minute later. Two more Pride goals pushed their lead to 3-1, but the Pioneers finished the quarter strong to tie it after one.   Seniors Matt Ferrino (Orchard Park, N.Y.) and Billy Skelos (Lynbrook, N.Y.) picked up a goal each make it even at three apiece.

The Pioneers took their only lead with 11:33 on the clock in the second quarter as senior Aaron Lupo (Schenectady, NY) buried a feed from fellow senior Chris Casey (Duxbury, MA).   Hofstra put a pair on the board at 5:54 and 3:50 with Lance Yapor scoring his first of four goals on the day.  The Pioneers tied it right before the half as sophomore Andrew Newbold (Loveland, OH) buried one unassisted with just over a minute left.

The Pride took off in the third period scoring outscoring Sacred Heart 4-1 to grab control of the game. Hofstra netted two goals in two minutes to pick up a 7-5 lead before sophomore Tom Sardelli (Rochester, MI) scored the Pioneers' only goal of the period.  Yapor gave his team a 9-6 lead with markers at 1:25 and another just 27 seconds later.

Sacred Heart made a run at the lead in the fourth quarter, opening with a pair of goals.  Sophomore Cody Marquis (Londonderry, N.H.) and Shane Foley (South Brunswick, N.H.) brought the Pioneers within one with 10:53 left in regulation.   The Pride answered off Lapor's stick at 8:57 to push their lead back to two goals, 10-8.  Marquis set up classmate Mike Mawdsley (Innisfil, Ont.) at 5L47 to pull within 10-9 but the Pride sealed it just over two minutes later as Lapor set up Adrian Sorichetti for the final tally.

SHU goalkeeper Zach Frank (Islip Terrace, NY) turned in 11 saves in cage for SHU.  Marquis led the Pioneers with a goal and two assists while Sardelli was the only Pioneer to score twice.  SHU outshot the Pride 33-30 in the loss.

The Pioneers are set to play Marist next Sunday in the 2012 home opener on Campus Field.  Opening face-off is scheduled for 1:00 pm

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