ONEONTA, NY – Hartwick played nationally eighteenth ranked Nazareth tough for three quarters before the Golden Flyers pulled away in the fourth for a 20-9 win Saturday in Empire 8 men's lacrosse. A Cordell Armstrong (Harleysville, PA/Souderton Area) goal with 4:11 left in the third quarter pulled Hartwick within four goals, 12-8, but Nazareth would score eight of the final nine goals to come out with the victory.
           
Cody Petillo (Holbrook, NY/Sachem North) paced the Hawks with three goals on the day. Conner Long (Hardwick, NJ/Blair Academy) added two goals and two assists and Jake Sachse (Lutherville, MD/Boys' Latin School of MD) contributed a pair of goals.
           
Petillo would put the Hawks in front at 10:31 of the first quarter and the Hawks' defense would keep the Golden Flyers from scoring through the first 11 minutes of action. After Naz tied the score at the 3:58 mark, Sasche and Long tallied eight seconds apart to hand 'Wick a 3-1 advantage.
           
The Golden Flyers would answer with two goals with under a minute left, including the tying goal with just one second remaining, to even the score at 3-3 after one period.
           
Naz scored four times in the first 2:22 of the second quarter to grab a 7-3 lead. Petillo then registered a pair of goals to cut the lead in half, 7-5. Four more Nazareth goals would give the hosts an 11-5 lead at the intermission.
           
Chris Vaden (Rocky Point, NY/Rocky Point) and Sasche scored in the third quarter for Hartwick to make the score 11-7. Naz got another tally at 7:05 before Armstrong made it a four-goal margin again at 4:11. Another two goals late in the period for the Flyers would push the advantage to six after three quarters.
           
Four unanswered Naz goals in the fourth would make it 18-8 with 7:16 left to play. Long would get the final Hartwick goal at 6:49 before the Flyers tacked on another two scores for the final 20-9 margin.
           
James Vogt (Stratham, NH/Exeter) and David Bianculli (Charlton, MA/Shepard Hill Regional) registered assists for the Hawks. Vogt also tied for a team-high with four ground balls. Armstrong and Garrison Wojtas (Hauppauge, NY/Hauppauge) also had four ground balls. Kyle Kickel (West Islip, NY/West Islip) chipped in with three. Kevin Rourke (Long Beach, NY/Long Beach) caused a team-high two turnovers and he recorded two ground balls.
           
Goalkeeper Mike Rourke (Long Beach, NY/Long Beach) made 15 saves in the contest, including 11 in the second and third quarters.
           
Luke Wooters led Nazareth with three goals and six assists. Matt O'Neill, Luke Longo, Troy Haefele, and Paul Walter each scored three times.
           
The Hawks next play on Friday, April 22 at Houghton College. The opening face-off is slated for 7 p.m.