Hempstead, NY - The fourth and final bid to the 2013 Colonial Athletic Association Championship Tournament could be on the line when the Hofstra Pride host the eighth-ranked Nittany Lions of Penn State this Saturday, April 27 at James M. Shuart Stadium. Game time for the Senior Night affair is 7 p.m.

Heading into the final weekend of the conference regular season, three teams, including the Pride (7-6, 2-3), are in contention for that final spot in the conference tournament. UMass and St. Joseph's are the other two. The Nittany Lions (10-3, 5-0) have already clinched the number one spot and will host the Championship next Wednesday, May 1 (semifinals) and Friday, May 3. Drexel (10-3, 5-1) has the number two spot and will face #3 Towson (7-7, 3-2) in the second semifinal at 5:30 p.m.

With UMass (6-7, 1-3) hosting Delaware (5-9, 1-4) in Amherst Friday night at 7 p.m., Towson hosting Saint Joseph's (5-10, 1-4) Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m., and Hofstra hosting Penn State Saturday night, four tie-breaking scenarios exist to determine the fourth seed.

The easiest, and the best scenario for the Pride, no matter what anyone one else does on Friday and Saturday, is to win Saturday night and they will be the fourth seed. Hofstra could have clinched that spot last Saturday but suffered a heart-breaking 9-8 loss to Massachusetts on a goal with 5.9 seconds to play. The Pride held a 5-1 lead in the second quarter and led 6-3 at halftime before the Minutemen mounted a comeback to get them back in the CAA Championship picture. Junior Torin Varn recorded his sixth hat-trick of the season, freshman Brian von Bargen notched two goals and senior Adrian Sorichetti posted a goal and an assist for the Pride. Sophomore goalie Chris Selva equaled his career-high set the previous week against UNC with 17 saves.

Saturday's game will feature the top two defenses in the nation with Hofstra first, allowing 7.07 goals per game, and Penn State second, allowing 7.17 per contest. In addition, two of the top goalies in the country will also be on display. Selva, who ranks third in goals against average (7.10 gpg) and second in save percentage (.627) will man the Pride cage while Penn State junior All-American Austin Kaut is second in goals against (7.08) and third in save percentage (.624) tends the Nittany Lion goal.

Hofstra, which averages 8.67 goals per game, is led by Torin Varn, who became the Pride's first 30-goal scorer since the 2010 season last Saturday. He now has 30 goals and two assists. Freshman Sam Llinares is second with 18 goals and 12 assists while Adrian Sorichetti has added 14 goals and 12 assists. Junior Drew Coholan is also having a career-best season with 12 goals and seven assists while classmate Lance Yapor has chipped in with eight goals and seven assists.

The Nittany Lions of Penn State, who have already locked up the top seed in next week's CAA Championship Tournament, enter Saturday's contest against the Pride ranked eighth in the USILA Coaches Poll and ninth in the Nike-Inside Lacrosse Media Poll.

The Nittany Lions have wins over Michigan (11-6), Denver (15-12), Massachusetts (7-5), Binghamton (11-7), St. Joseph's (9-2), Bucknell (11-3), Villanova (7-6), Drexel (13-6), Towson (10-8) and Delaware (13-7). Their losses have come against Notre Dame (10-9), Ohio State (10-9) and Lehigh (12-10). They enter Saturday's game on an eight-game winning streak.

Penn State averages 10.38 goals per game and ranks second in the country in defense allowing 7.23 per contest. The Nittany Lions are led in scoring by senior attackman Jack Forster with 46 points on 31 goals and 15 assists. Freshman linemate TJ Sanders leads the team with 34 goals and has added five assists. Junior Shane Sturgis has notched 20 goals and 14 assists while junior midfielder Tom LaCrosse, nephew of former Hofstra standout Michael LaCrosse, has chipped in with 20 goals and three assists. Senior midfielder Danny Henneghan has won 150 of 267 face-offs for a .562 winning percentage. Junior All-American goalie Austin Kaut has recorded a 7.08 goals against average, which ranks second in Division I, and 153 saves for a .624 save percentage, which ranks third in the country.

Saturday's game is the 16th meeting between Hofstra and Penn State in a series that started in 1955. It is just the fifth encounter between the two programs since a 17-6 Pride victory in 1990. Hofstra holds an 9-6 series lead over the Nittany Lions but the two teams have split the last six contests. Penn State recorded a 9-8 double-overtime victory over the Pride last year in University Park and the eighth-ranked Pride posted a 9-4 victory over the 20th-ranked Nittany Lions in Hempstead in 2011.

On the occasion of the final regular season home contest, Hofstra will honor 10 seniors who will be making their final appearance at James M. Shuart Stadium in pregame ceremonies. The seniors are: attackmen Jordan Fried and Ryan O'Leary;  midfielders Aaron Jones, John Antoniades, Ryan Quinn and Adrian Sorichetti; longstick midfielder Rob Bellairs; defenseman Cody Solaja; and goalies Jason Rosenzweig and Ryan Brant. Three graduate-students, midfielder Brad Loizeaux and defenders Michael Hamilton and Mark Mullen, are also exhausting their athletic eligibility this season but were honored last season.