HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – The Sacred Heart men's lacrosse team bounced back from a 10-3 halftime deficit Saturday afternoon at #17/20 Hofstra to get within three goals early in the fourth quarter, but it would not be enough as the Pride won 14-9 in the season opener for both teams.

Junior attack Mike Mawdsley (Innisfil, ON) led the Pioneers with three goals on just four shots. Shane Foley (South Brunswick, N.H.) added two goals as Cody Marquis (Londonderry, N.H.) and Alex Dodge (Smithtown, N.Y.) each had two points on a goal and an assist. Mawdsley and Tim Caton (East Rochester, N.Y.) both had a team-high five groundballs. Junior goalie Alec Dvoretsky (Montville, N.J) made 11 saves between the pipes for Sacred Heart.

Hofstra (1-0) stuck first as Sam Llinares put the Pride ahead 1-0 3:15 into the game. Llinares then assisted on a Torin Varn extra-man goal with 8:05 remaining in the first quarter to make the score 2-0. Hofstra struck again 10 seconds later. Varn scored his second straight goal to give the Pride a 3-0 lead. The Pride led 4-0 before Sacred Heart (0-1) scored its first goal. With 5:41 remaining in the first quarter, Eric Madigan (Ashburn, Va.) fed senior Shane Foley (South Brunswick, N.H.) for the Pioneers' first tally of the season.  Mike Mawdsley (Innisfil, ON) then scored with 3:19 left in the quarter to cut the deficit to two, 4-2. Hofstra, however, scored in the final minute of the first quarter to take a 5-2 lead.

After Hofstra scored 16 seconds into the second quarter, the Pioneers returned the favor. Tim Caton (East Rochester, N.Y.) scored at the 14:28 mark to make the score 6-3. From there, the Pride scored four unanswered goals to take a 10-3 halftime lead. Sacred Heart came out firing in the third quarter, putting 6-of-8 shots on net. Cody Marquis (Londonderry, N.H.) scored the first Pioneers goal of the second half off of a Matt Gannon (Huntington, N.Y.) pass with 13:40 remaining in the third quarter. After Hofstra made the score 11-4, Alex Dodge (Smithtown, N.Y.) scored his first career goal to start a 4-0 Sacred Heart run that ran into the fourth quarter. Mawdsley added two goals and Seth Richard (Derry, N.H.) added a tally that made the score 11-8 with 12:55 to play in the fourth quarter.

Sacred Heart outshot Hofstra 8-7 in the fourth quarter, but only managed one more goal. Foley netted his second goal of the game with 2:10 to play, making the score 12-9. The Pride then added two goals in the final 1:30 to make the final score 14-9.

Hofstra outshot Sacred Heart 43-32 for the game, putting 25 shots on goal to the Pioneers' 21. The Pioneers held a 38-36 edge in groundballs and won 13 of the 25 faceoffs in the game.

Sacred Heart is back in action next Saturday, Feb. 23, when it travels to Poughkeepsie, N.Y. to take on Marist. The opening faceoff is set for 1 p.m.