SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - Skidmore (2-0) handed Hartwick's men's lacrosse team its first loss of the year on Saturday by a final score of 12-7. The Thoroughbreds led 3-0 after the first quarter and scored five of the first six goals of the day in the win. The Hawks, who opened the season on Thursday with a 15-5 win over Cobleskill, fall to 1-1 on the young season.
For the second straight game, freshman Harry Hughes (Holtsville, NY/Sachem East) recorded a hat-trick for Hartwick. Junior Dave Aitchison (N. Massapequa, NY/Farmingdale) added two goals and an assist and senior Brandon Wilk (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough) and freshman Joe Shields (Loudonville, NY/Shaker) each scored once.
The Thoroughbreds were led by Cory Barkoff and Tom Howley, who each registered three goals and two assists.
Skidmore came out strong to start the game as it held a 15-2 advantage in shots in the first quarter. Barkoff gave the Thoroughbreds the lead one and a half minutes into the quarter. It remained 1-0 until the final minute of the period as Howley and JP Sullivan scored 12 seconds apart for a 3-0 edge.
After Hughes scored Hartwick's first early in the second, Skidmore netted a pair to take a 5-1 lead which lastly deep into the quarter. Aitchison scored unassisted to cut the deficit to three heading into halftime.
The Hawks made it 5-3 after Shields found the net 2:05 into the third period, but four different Thoroughbreds would score the next four goals in a six-minute span to pull away. Wilk scored with three seconds left in the third to make the score 9-4.
Hughes and Aitchison pulled the Hawks to within three (9-6) with a pair of scores in the first six minutes of the deciding quarter, but two Howley goals and a Barkoff tally in a 4:21 span sealed the Skidmore victory. Aitchison would find Hughes to close out the game's scoring with less than two minutes to play.
The Thoroughbreds held a 49-28 edge in shots in the game. They also earned 33 ground balls to the Hawks' 25. Both teams split the face-offs wins with 11 each.
Junior Alex Skvarch (Syracuse, NY/Marcellus) led 'Wick with game-highs of nine ground balls and five caused turnovers. Goalie Ryan Twardowski (Emmaus, PA/S. Lehigh) made 13 saves and added six ground balls for the Hawks. Skidmore goalkeeper Flip Bongaerts stopped 12 shots.
Hartwick next hosts Scranton a week from today on March 13th. The game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start at Wright Stadium.
