ONEONTA, NY - Hartwick battled back from a three-goal fourth-quarter deficit but host Oneonta State scored the game's final three goals over the last four minutes to win 12-10 in men's lacrosse on Tuesday night. The Hawks, who are in the midst of a five-game skid, fall to 5-7 overall. The Red Dragons improve to 2-8 on the year.
Hartwick was led by sophomores Harry Hughes (Holtsville, NY/Sachem East) and Joe Shields (Loudonville, NY/Shaker) who each scored three goals. Four other players notched a goal apiece.
The Hawks trailed 9-6 with less than eight minutes to play in the game but they erased the deficit with four goals in a 3:23 span to take a 10-9 lead. Jimmy van de Veerdonk won the ensuing face-off for the Dragons, however, and he converted just seconds later to tie the score. He would add the eventual game-winner with two and a half minutes left and tacked on an insurance marker with 21 seconds remaining.
The victory for the Red Dragons is just their third over the Hawks in the last 10 meetings between the two programs dating back to 2001. The Hawks still hold the edge in the all-time series with 19 wins in 29 games.
Van de Veerdonk led the Red Dragons with five goals and an assist. John DeOrdio added three goals and one helper and Mike Salerno notched two goals and an assist.
The game was back and forth with six tie scores and five lead changes. The Hawks took the early lead with goals from Hughes and Bobby Cassidy (Oceanside, NY/Oceanside) in the opening seven minutes. The Red Dragons scored three straight in a 12-minute span in the first two quarters to take a 3-2 edge before Shields tied it once again for the Hawks.
Man-up goals from O-State handed the hosts a two-goal lead but Shields and Phil Schaefer (Holbrook, NY/Sachem North) evened things with tallies in the final 2:12 before halftime.
After Dave Aitchison (Farmingdale, NY/Farmingdale) put 'Wick up one five minutes into the third quarter, the Red Dragons scored three times in a 1:42 span to take an 8-6 advantage. DeOrdio made it 9-6 early in the fourth, but Rob Borkowski (Farmington, CT/Watkinson School) tallied, Hughes added a pair of scores, and Shields added his third to put 'Wick in front for the last time, 10-9, with 4:11 left.
Van de Veerdonk led the way down the stretch for the Dragons as he won two face-offs and added a ground ball to go along with his three goals in the final 4:09.
Cassidy and defender Max Cooper (Manlius, NY/Fayetteville Manlius) led Hartwick with five ground balls each. Mike Morrison (Holbrook, NY/Sachem East) and Tim Antos (Marcellus, NY/Onondaga) each had four. Goalie Carl Lengel (Lynbrook, NY/Lynbrook) made 10 saves.
Oneonta, which held advantages in shots (36-31) and ground balls (40-31) received a game-high 10 ground balls from Van de Veerdonk. He was also impressive on the draw winning 19-of-24 face-offs. Scott Sorrillo grabbed nine ground balls for Red Dragons. Chris Miles made nine stops in cage.
Hartwick returns to action on Saturday, April 16. The Hawks play at Elmira College beginning at 1 p.m.
