Men's Lacrosse

Hawks Roll Past Alfred 8-4 on Senior Day

ONEONTA, NY - Hartwick's men's lax team scored the game's first five goals and then shook off Alfred in the fourth quarter in an 8-4 win at Wright Stadium Saturday. The victory for the Hawks closes out their Empire 8 schedule with a 3-5 mark and they improve to 5-8 overall. Alfred falls to 8-7 and 1-7 in the conference standings.

Senior goalie John Meade (Ocean Beach, NY) nearly shutout the Saxons for the opening thirty minutes of the game, surrendering the first Alfred goal with just four ticks left before halftime. He would finish the match with 13 saves and a team-high 10 ground balls. Senior Steve Caramello (Duxbury, MA) added a hat-trick for Hartwick and sophomore Ryan Kloss (Hillsborough, NJ) contributed two goals.

'Wick jumped out to a two-goal lead in the first quarter as senior Alex Giovinazzo (Waltham, MA) set up both scores 1:46 apart for two of his team-leading three assists on the day. He found Caramello for his 13th of the year 3:12 into the game and then found Kloss for his 10th to give the Hawks a two-goal edge.

The Hawks' offense would continue to produce in the second quarter as 'Wick scored three times in a 2:41 span to gain a 5-0 edge over the visitors. Freshman Tom Srubinski (West Islip, NY) netted an unassisted goal for the Hawks' third tally followed by a pair of Caramello goals 1:27 apart. Alfred finally was able to crack the Blue and White's defense with just four seconds to play as the Saxons cashed in on a Hawk penalty and scored with four seconds remaining.

The Saxons carried the momentum into the second half as Marc Zoyhofski scored 4:34 into the third period and Dave Malave added another score just over two minutes later to suddenly cut the Hartwick lead to just two goals, 5-3. Zoyhofski added his second with only five seconds showing on the clock in the third quarter and the lead was trimmed to one with 15 minutes left to play.

Hartwick would thwart any Saxon thoughts of completing the comeback in the fourth quarter, outscoring them 3-0 in the period. Freshman Chris Livelli (Hillsborough, NJ) set up teammate Brandon Wilk (Hillsborough, NJ) with 8:38 remaining in the game, and Steve Kuron (Wantagh, NY) sent a bouncing shot up and over Alfred keeper Adam Schutz to extend the Hawks lead to 7-4 just over a minute later. Kloss would end the day's scoring 10:13 into the stanza for his second of the day.

Hartwick ended today's game with a 30-29 advantage in shots. The Saxons had the edge in ground balls, 41-38, and both teams won eight face-offs.

The 'Wick defensive unit was solid allowing a season-low four goals in the match and equaling a season-high with 15 caused turnovers. Long pole Alex Skvarch (Syracuse, NY) recorded a career-high seven ground balls for Hartwick and he added three caused turnovers, which marked the third straight game the sophomore has forced three opponent miscues. Fellow defenders Brandon Murtha (West Islip, NY), Eric Willadsen (South Windsor, CT), and Tim Antos (Marcellus, NY) each caused three Saxon turnovers on the day.

Alfred's Schutz finished the match with 14 saves and a game-high 11 ground balls. Evander Wilson added eight pickups and a match-high six caused turnovers.

Today marked the final career home games for Hartwick seniors, Meade, Caramello, Giovinazzo, Mookie Young (Oceanside, NY), Matt Shellard (Latham, NY), and Cory Robbins (Guilford, CT). The six players, along with senior Tim Gill (Massapequa, NY), who was unable to play due to a prior injury, were honored for their efforts in a Hartwick uniform prior to the match.

The Hawks' season concludes on Monday at 5 p.m. at Oneonta State's All College Field as the team wraps up the second half of its match with the Red Dragons which was halted due to lightning last Tuesday. 'Wick leads the Dragons 5-4 with 14:33 left on the clock in the third period.