Stepping up at the perfect time
Tolker and Arline post career highs in road win vs. Hofstra
Sophomore attackman Henry Tolker scored a career-high five goals and Navy men’s lacrosse survived a second-half rally to beat Hofstra, 13-12, at James M. Shuart Stadium in Hempstead, New York.
Junior attackman Xavier Arline totaled a career-high seven points on three goals and four assists. The goal and assist totals were also career highs for Arline.
“I thought today, in particular, we saw a big glimpse of what X can provide this team,” Navy coach Joe Amplo said. “He has a commanding presence amongst the team and creates opportunities for his teammates.”
Freshman attackman Mac Haley contributed two goals and an assist for the Midshipmen, who improved to 3-0. Navy’s starting attack totaled 10 goals in the game, which was a homecoming for Amplo — a 1996 Hofstra graduate.
Short stick defensive midfielder Jackson Peters scored two goals, while offensive midfielder Patrick Skalniak dished off two assists for Navy, which jumped out to a 5-1 lead after the first quarter.
“Sometimes you have to figure out ways to win that aren’t pretty,’ said Amplo, who played lacrosse at Hofstra then served as an assistant under legendary coach John Danowski. “I was impressed with how hard [the Pride] played and the energy they brought. They easily could have called it a day when we got up early in the first quarter, but they didn’t. Credit to them for pushing us to the end.”
Goalies Pat Ryan and Dan Daly split halves and combined to make 14 saves for the Midshipmen, who led 8-4 early in the second half. Attackman Gerard Kane scored all three of his goals to spark a 5-0 run that enabled Hofstra to tie the score at 9 just 34 seconds into the fourth quarter.
It was back-and-forth the rest of the way with Haley giving Navy a 13-10 lead with 3:44 to go. Midfielder John Madsen scored two straight unassisted goals as Hofstra pulled within one with 1:08 left.
The Pride won the ensuing faceoff and called timeout to set up a play in hopes of tying the score, but instead committed a turnover. Navy was able to salt valuable time off the clock before Hofstra regained possession. Navy short stick defensive midfielder Henry Rentz (Severn School) sealed the win by intercepting a last-second shot.