Justin Paley - Growing up in Massapequa, Stephen Bentz attended numerous Hofstra Men’s Lacrosse home games at James M. Shuart Stadium and dreamed of one day being able to put on the Pride uniform.

Now that dream has come true for Bentz, a starting Junior Attackman for the Hofstra Pride Men’s Lacrosse team. “I always wanted to be a Hofstra guy,” said Bentz, a former standout at Massapequa High School where he was an All-Nassau County selection as a senior.

After limited playing time his first two seasons, Bentz has exploded this season for 23 goals (third on the team), 12 assists, and also scooped up 20 ground balls. Hofstra is currently ranked 15th in the nation and a win over 11th ranked Towson on Saturday, May 1st would put the Pride in position for a possible at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. “My goal was to make an impact on the team and I knew I could,” Bentz said.

With teammate Kevin Ford injured with a broken foot, Hofstra Head Coach Seth Tierney let Bentz know he had a good shot at being the starting attackman. Playing alongside Canadians Jay Card and Jamie Lincoln, Bentz impressed Tierney in the pre-season and was named the third starter on attack. “In between Jamie [Lincoln] and Jay [Card], we needed a third guy to step up,” Tierney said. “It’s the perfect role for Stephen. He’s the silent assassin.”

The 6’0, 200-pound Bentz credited the chemistry he has with Lincoln and Card as one of the reasons for his success this season. Bentz was humble in explaining why he has been able to tally 23 goals this year pointing out that many have been assisted. "I’m just the lucky guy who gets the pass and puts it in the back of the net," he said.

The 21-year-old Bentz had a career-high five goals in a 14-6 win at home over Sacred Heart on March 20th.  After each goal, “Benny and the Jets,” by Elton John was blasted over the loudspeakers at Shuart Stadium. “My freshman year [former teammate] Ryan Carter started calling me Benny," said Bentz. "I think because he couldn’t remember my last name. So it became my goal song."

While many attackmen will start at the top of the box and try to dodge to the net, Bentz is more comfortable playing behind the net and sneaking around to score or dishing the ball out to a teammate for an assist. “I have a good IQ of the game,” Bentz said. “I get everyone on the right page and make plays.”

One of the other highlights of Bentz season was playing one of the first sporting events at the New Meadowlands Stadium as part of the Big City Classic on April 10th. In a 12-11 win over Delaware, Bentz tallied two goals and two assists. “Being the first event, it was a really cool feeling,” said Bentz. “You don’t think of it during the game…but after the game when we were celebrating the victory and you walk around, it’s really unbelievable.”

Bentz said the intensity and speed in college took some time getting used to. He credits playing on the Long Island Empire State Games lacrosse team in helping him prepare for the high level of college lacrosse Hofstra plays. “I think playing on the Empire team where so many guys go on to Division I careers helped big time,” said Bentz, who won two gold medals while playing for Long Island in the Empire Games.

While in high school, Bentz was being recruited by Tierney, who was then an assistant coach at Johns Hopkins. However, after former Hofstra coach John Danowski left to become the coach at Duke, and Tierney was named the new Pride head coach, one of the first calls Tierney made was to Bentz. “I told him we are meant to be together here and the scholarship offer [from Hofstra] still stands,” said Tierney, a Levittown native who starred at MacArthur High School before playing at Johns Hopkins. 

Bentz attracted the attention of Division I schools because of his stand-out career at Massapequa High School. During his senior year playing lacrosse, Bentz scored 31 goals, tallied 31 assists, and led Massapequa with 87 ground balls.

Bentz also excelled in the classroom in high school and was named a New York State scholar-athlete in football and basketball. Academics have always been very important to Bentz, describing how the Hofstra coaching staff makes the players write down all their grades in an academic book and will talk to the players about any low grades.

This summer Bentz plans to work hard improving his game such as enhancing his dodging ability, speed and strength. He also plans to coach ninth and 10th graders for Seals Lacrosse with Adelphi Assistant Coach Joe Catalanotti, something he has done the last three years.

In addition to working on making himself a better player, Bentz will also spend part of the summer doing one of his favorite hobbies since he was young, which is fishing and crabbing with his grandfather, who is one of his biggest supporters and comes to all Hofstra home games.

Bentz, a history major, hopes to become a social studies teacher and coach lacrosse when he graduates. Certainly the knowledge Bentz continues to gain will help prepare him for his senior season where the Pride will have lofty expectations. It will be Bentz’s last year playing for the team he grew up watching and he hopes it will be a career that closes with Hofstra reaching a whole new level.