Box Score

ONEONTA, NY – Three goals in the final three and a half minutes handed Hartwick men's lacrosse a furious 11-9 come-from-behind victory over Alfred in the Hawks' season finale Saturday at Wright Stadium. The game featured three lead changes and a total of seven tie scores.
           
'Wick trailed 9-8 with under four minutes left before junior Mike Vaglica (Newton, MA/Newton) netted his third goal of the game to tie the score. Junior Zach Gropper (Syosset, NY/Syosset) put Hartwick in front to stay with 1:14 on the clock as he tallied his ninth goal in the Hawks' last two games, and senior Harry Hughes (Holtsville, NY/Sachem East) finished off the scoring with 19 ticks remaining to ice it.
           
Gropper finished the day with a game-high four goals, including the late game-winner. Hughes added three goals and two assists in his final game in a Hartwick uniform and Vaglica netted three goals and dished out an assist.
           
Alfred jumped out to a 3-1 first-quarter lead as Nick Como, Derek Green, and Brett Carroll scored goals in the first 9:03 of action. Vaglica opened the Hartwick scoring with 6:14 gone in the period and Hughes closed the gap to one with an unassisted score with 1:27 left as the visitors held a 3-2 edge after 15 minutes.
           
Hughes tied it on the man-up from Cody Ciolino (Nesconset, NY/Sachem North) just 20 seconds into the second quarter, but the Saxons regained the upper hand with two tallies 2:41 apart. Hartwick responded with a Vaglica man-up goal at 10:02 and senior Irvens Dupuy (Norwalk, CT/Norwalk) tied it on the man-advantage 2:08 later. Gropper gave Hartwick its first lead of the day with an even-strength goal with 1:47 left to play in the half and the Hawks entered halftime up 6-5.
           
The Saxons and Hawks traded man-up goals in the opening 6:46 from Ben Demarco and Gropper, respectively. Demarco then tied it up at 7-7 with another goal with 6:15 left in the third quarter.
           
The game stayed even until a big defensive play from Hartwick senior goalkeeper Carl Lengel (Lynbrook, NY/Lynbrook) led the Hawks to a go-ahead goal. Alfred's Chris Tauteroff's long pass near midfield found a Saxon attacker right in front of goal all alone, but Lengel charged out and a bruising hit knocked the ball away to preserve the tie. Senior Max Cooper (Manlius, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius) grabbed the ensuing ground ball and the Hawks cleared before Bobby Cassidy (Oceanside, NY/Oceanside) set up Gropper for the transition goal and an 8-7 Hartwick lead at the end of three.
           
The Saxons, however, started strong in the fourth as they scored twice inside of seven minutes to take a 9-8 advantage. They also successfully killed a 2-minute non-releasable penalty and it appeared AU would escape Wright Stadium with the victory. The Hawks had other ideas, however, as Vaglica, Gropper, and Hughes capped the comeback with the trio of goals in the final 3:29 to secure the 'Wick win.
           
The Saxons edge the Hawks in shots, 38-36, in the contest. Hartwick held a large advantage in ground balls, 41-30. 'Wick converted on four of its 12 man-up opportunities while limiting Alfred to just 1-of-8.
           
Carroll, Demarco, and Green paced the Alfred attack with two goals apiece. Brendan Sullivan contributed a goal and three helpers and Tanner Morse added one goal and two assists.
           
Hartwick's nine seniors – Hughes, Cassidy, Dupuy, Lengel, Max Cooper, Jake Cooper (Manlius, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius), Pat Leone (Northport, NY/Northport), Joe Pellegrino (Oakdale, NY/Connetquot) and Giuseppe Rice (Peekskill, NY/Peekskill) would combined for four goals, three assists, 24 ground balls, and four caused turnovers in their final game at Hartwick.
           
Hughes ends his career as the most prolific scorer in Hartwick history with a total of 185 goals. His 219 points ranks third all-time at 'Wick. Jake Cooper closes out his career with 159 ground balls and 46 caused turnovers. His brother, Max Cooper, ends up with 151 ground balls and 53 caused turnovers.
           
Lengel, who stopped 10 Saxon shots in the game, finishes with 37 games played between the Hartwick pipes. He stopped 295 shots in over 1700 minutes of action.
           
Leone would finish today's game against Alfred with career- and team-highs of six ground balls and three caused turnovers. Cassidy added five ground balls in the game. He finishes his career at 'Wick with 27 goals, 13 assists, 132 GB's, and 40 CT's.
           
Sophomore Fred Golini (Ronkonkoma, NY/Sachem North) tied Leone for the team-high in caused turnovers with three. Connor Hudson (Moriches, NY/William Floyd) contributed five ground balls and he was 6-for-11 from the face-off spot. Shane Latsko (E. Longmeadow, MA/E. Longmeadow) won 75% of his face-offs for 'Wick going 9-of-12.

The Hawks close out their season with an overall record of 6-8. They finish sixth in the Empire 8 standings with a 2-5 mark.