Hofstra Next Week

[Go Hopkins]

Dave, the way Hopkins played saturday, Hofstra COULD HAVE A PRETTY GOOD CHANCE.

[Dave H]

Neither of our teams are having the start to the season we expected. I can't explain why a team that is usually built on defense and goaltending is giving up so much scoring.

I still believe the first two games of the season are attributable to new faces needing to gel with the vets.

At least *one* of us will be happy after this weekend.

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Dave H

[Dave H]

GoHopkins -- a friend of mine providied this first-hand account of the game for me:

Loyola/Hofstra Lax Recap

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I went to the game Sat. In Baltimore. Hofstra started out great leading at the half 8-6 which had Loyola's coach flipping out. Their offense was moving the ball great and getting real good shots off. They were really controlling the game at the half. In the second half Loyola started to win face-offs and the ball started to bounce their way. They capitalized on every Hofstra mistake. Hofstra missed a couple of one on one's and couldn't rebound from the lead Loyola had. They pulled their Goalie at the end and Loyola got 3 more goals. A couple of things that were interesting:

Shanahan had 4 goals but 3 of those didn't come until the end of the game when the verdict was already in. He has to shoot more and take control of the offense in times where we need a score. The kid is a stud out there playing with boys. His shot is pretty incedible. A couple of times the goalie never saw it. He can also take anyone to the goal any time. He needs to step up in tight ball games and shoot more.

Polonco (the two time JUCO player of the year) hurt his knee in practice last week and I hear could be out for at least a month with a possible tear.

Kostolansky, one of Hofstra's top scorers and threats hurt what appeared to be his knee in the third quarter and didn't return. This could be a big blow to their season if he doesn't make a comeback. Let's hope he is ok.

Mctige replaced Kostolansky and struggled to say the least. He was a lost sheep out there. I hope Joe can return. The hOpkins D this weekend will most likely try to shut everyone else off when he gets the ball so they can take it away from him.

Next game @Hopkins on Sat.; Hopkins only put up 4 goals on Princeton this past weekend. The Dutch D needs to step it up


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Dave H

[Dave H]

Now I see why Hopkins only put 4 goals by Princeton -- they have a tremendous defensive scheme.

I was at Hofstra stadium Saturday afternoon - and I saw first hand what the Princeton squad can do. They have a stifling D.

Hofstra was down 9-2 in the fourth, until they finally made a run.

Scott Dooley forced a turnover, scooped up the ball and scored on a pure breakaway. Seconds later, Doug Shanahan won the faceoff cleanly, broke to the net and scored another breakaway. Then Tom Kessler did nearly the same thing. Hofstra stadium was finally rocking and I thought we just might do it.

Unfortunately, Hofstra went back to slowly setting up plays (which didn't work at all for 3 quarters, so I don't know why they'd think it would work this time) and squandered the final minutes.

Princeton got one more late goal and the game ended 10-5.

It doesn't get any easier as we host Notre Dame next week.

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Dave H