Box Score
ONEONTA, NY – Host Hartwick College held a one-goal halftime lead after a dominating performance in the first half but let the game slip away in the second in a 2-1 setback on Wednesday night on Elmore Field. Freshman
Marc Russell (Glasgow, Scotland/Woodfarm HS) gave 'Wick the lead in the 31
st minute as the Hawks held a 10-5 edge in shots in the opening 45 minutes. The Great Danes put three shots on frame in the second half and scored on two of them within 16 minutes of each other for the victory.
Hartwick drops to 4-7-2 overall with the loss. Albany improves to 5-9 with the victory, which is its third straight.
The Hawks came out firing as they outshot the visitors by a 5-0 margin over the opening 16 minutes of action. Freshman back
David Styles (Bognor Regis, England/St. Phillip Howard) had the first good scoring chance seven minutes in after an Albany foul 25 yards from goal. He swung a left-footed shot up over the Great Dane wall to the near post but UA goalkeeper Tim Allen was able to make the tough stop.
Four minutes later, Russell dribbled into the box and had a decent look at the goal but his shot went right at Allen, who made the save.
In the 27
th minute, senior forward
Cleyon Brown (Kingston, Jamaica/Berkshire School) had another chance for the Hawks. Following a corner, a back heel from a 'Wick player found Brown with his back to goal eight yards away. Brown was able to turn and get a shot off but again Allen was there to turn it away.
Albany's best chance of the half came off a corner in the 27
th minute. Phillip Persson served the ball into the Hartwick box and Thomas Manz met it on the run but his header slipped just wide of the far post.
Finally the Hawks broke through at the 30:21 mark for the lead.
Russell Oost-Lievense (Westport, CT/Staples HS) played a short pass to Brown who carried the ball into the box on the right side. Nearing the end line, he played the ball back across the goal mouth to Russell who was there to finish for his third tally of the season.
Early in the second half, Hartwick nearly made it 2-0 inside of seven minutes. Forward
Jason Keefe (Springfield, MA/Springfield Central) collected the ball in the Albany box with his back to goal. He turned and fired off a shot but a Great Dane defender got a piece of the shot forcing a corner.
Just five minutes later, Albany got the equalizer. Roughly 35 yards from the Hartwick net, Albany's Quintel Gates, who had just entered the game four minutes prior, won a header and nodded the ball to teammate Ivan Martinez. He out-muscled a Hartwick back for the ball and broke in alone from 22 yards away and slotted the tying goal with a low shot past goalkeeper
Tom Buckner (Oxford, England/Henley College).
The Danes had another chance six minutes later with a blast from Brandon Wilson from outside the box. Buckner made the save and recovered the rebound to quell another UA opportunity.
Hartwick had two chances over the next eight minutes. The first stemmed from some good ball movement from the Hawks as Russell go the ball to Keefe on the right side of goal but his shot went just wide of the near post. Later, a cross to the far side was saved on the end line by 'Wick's
Chris Walter (Snyder, NY/Nichols School) who slipped a pass back to Keefe inside the six-yard box. Allen, however, came up with the stop, his fourth and final of the night.
Thirty second later, the Albany comeback was complete. Pomare Te Anau sent a through ball to Wilson who took a few touches and drove a low far-post shot past Buckner for the 2-1 edge.
The Hawks had much of the ball possession over the final 18 minutes of the game but they were never able to generate any solid scoring opportunities and the Danes emerged with the victory.
The victory is Albany's second straight on Elmore Field after a 1-0 win in 2010. The Hawks falls to 8-2-1 all-time against the Danes.
Hartwick gets back to Mid-American Conference play this Sunday with an important game at Western Michigan. Kickoff is at 2 p.m.
