After piling up a total of 32 goals in starting 2-0, the Princeton University men’s lacrosse team ran into a roadblock against Hofstra last Saturday.

With its high-powered attack getting stifled by the Pride, Princeton found itself trailing 4-1 at halftime.

Princeton senior midfielder Adam Hardej acknowledged that a gritty Hofstra defense was a thorn in the side for the Tigers in the early stages of the contest.

“Whenever you are playing a new team I think it takes a little getting used to, with their slide packages and where they are coming from,” said Hardej.

“We have some specific systems in place and we were prepared for them but it takes a little time to get going.”

At halftime, the message from the Princeton coaches centered on getting back to basics.

“It just came down to beating your guy one-on-one and going to the cage hard,” recalled Hardej.

“I think we were looking for the perfect shot a little bit in the beginning of the game and we just simplified the game to beat your man and move it one more time.”

After falling behind 5-1 five minutes into the second half, a goal from Princeton senior star Zach Currier with 2:58 left in the third quarter got the Tigers on the comeback trail.

“We had a lot of bounces that weren’t going our way,” said Hardej. “It just took one to get it moving, get the confidence back, and to realize that we can get it in the back of the net and it isn’t always going to hit the pipe.”

With Hardej contributing two goals, Princeton went on a 6-3 run to narrow the gap to 8-7 midway through the fourth quarter but could get no closer than that, falling 10-8 to the Pride.

“We went to one set,” said Hardej in assessing Princeton’s late rally. “It was run hard and move it forward and just be ready to shoot.”

Hardej proved his readiness to shoot as he scored just 47 seconds after Currier’s tally, coming up with the ball in a scrum in the crease area and firing it into the back of the net at close range.

“It just bounced my way,” said Hardej, “I was lucky enough that I was crashing the goal so I could pick it up and get it off.”

Early in the fourth quarter, Hardej ripped a shot that one-hopped past the Hofstra goalie to narrow the gap to 7-6.

“It was good; any goals in a game like that when we are coming from behind are so much adrenaline,” said Hardej. “It is intense when you are looking to come from behind.”

While the Tigers ran out of time, Hardej believes the late rally can help the Tigers going forward.

“I think we just took too long to get going,” said Hardej, reflecting on a day which saw freshman star Michael Sowers tally three goals and an assist, to lead Princeton with Currier chipping in one goal and two assists, and senior Gavin McBride contributing a goal and an assist.

“We will walk out of this game thinking we felt good there at the end, that is the type of lacrosse that we want to play. We just waited too long to get started.”

Having scored four goals in three games this season after notching three goals all last spring in an injury-marred junior season, Hardej is primed for a big final campaign.

“I think that offensively, there is just a lot more confidence with age,” noted Hardej, a 6’6, 225-pound native of Hingham, Mass.

“Our defense is playing really well and I think that gives us confidence on the offensive end to take some chances. There is a new coaching staff; things are clicking with them. I think it is more prone to my skill set as a big space dodger.”

Moving out to midfield from attack has helped Hardej find the range. “I like being above the goal; I am definitely looking to shoot,” added Hardej.

“I am happier at the 15. It was nice playing down low to have that experience and understand the offense better. It has all come together this year.”

Hardej and the 2-1 Tigers will need to come together quicker this Friday when they host third-ranked Johns Hopkins (4-0).

“From my experience it is always something that we have really looked forward to,” said Hardej, reflecting on the matchup with perennial power Hopkins.

“There are parts of today that I think will help against them. I think if we went in with three wins, it would have been easy to be a little too comfortable. Now we will have fiery practices this week and be ready to go for what is always a big game.”