ONEONTA, NY – Hartwick trailed by three deep in the third quarter and rallied to pull within one in the fourth but couldn't find the tying goal in the waning minutes in a 7-6 loss to visiting Farmingdale State on Friday at Wright Stadium. The loss is the first for the Hawks as they slip to 2-1 on the season. The Rams improve to 4-1.
           
David Bianculli's (Charlton, MA/Shepard Hill Regional) goal with 1:22 left in the game brought the Hawks to a one-goal deficit. Chris VanDemark (Painted Post, NY/Corning-Painted Post), Brett Maguire (Adams Center, NY/South Jefferson), and Jake Sachse (Lutherville, MD/Boys' Latin School of MD) all put shots on cage with a chance to tie the score in the final 18 seconds, but each one was turned aside by Rams' goalkeeper Brendan Schade.
           
The Hawks finished the game with advantages in shots (30-29), ground balls (38-27), and face-offs (13-of-16) but came away one short on the scoreboard. The Rams would out-shoot the Hawks 18-8 in the first half, but Hartwick doubled up the visitors in the second half, 22-11.
           
Sachse paced 'Wick with two goals and an assist. Eric Schweitzer (Babylon, NY/Babylon) contributed a goal, an assist, and game-highs of 10 ground balls and four caused turnovers. James Vogt (Stratham, NH/Exeter) won 11-of-13 face-offs and added three ground balls.
           
The Rams got on the scoreboard first 2:14 into the game and added to their total nearly eight minutes later for a 2-0 advantage. Schweitzer answered for Hartwick at 4:11 and Sam Ferguson (Baldwin, NY/Baldwin) tied it off a Sachse feed at the 1:25 mark. Farmingdale jumped in front with under a minute left but Jared Hoff (Cohoes, NY/Shaker) tallied from David Demand (Chittenango, NY/Chittenango) for the Hawks with five ticks to go to tie the game at 3-3 after one period.
           
The Rams went ahead for good 1:53 into the second period. They added two more goals, all from Ryan Wieczorek, to take a 6-3 lead at halftime.
           
The two teams traded goals 1:50 apart late in the third quarter. Sachse tallied off a VanDemark assist for the Hawks' goal. Sachse added a second from Maguire with 17 seconds to go in the third quarter to pull the Hawks within two. Bianculli's goal with 1:22 left was the final one of the game.
           
Goalkeeper Connor O'Brien (Duxbury, MA/Duxbury), who ended the game with 10 saves, registered three ground balls. Garrison Wojtas (Hauppauge, NY/Hauppauge), Maguire, and Wyatt Long (Hardwick, NJ/Blair Academy) also had three. Wojtas also caused a pair of Ram turnovers.
           
Wieczorek led the Rams with his three goals. Justin Napolitano and Tyler Rifice each added a goal and an assist. Schade finished with 11 saves in the Farmingdale cage.
           
Hartwick remains at home for its next non-conference game on Wednesday, March 15. The Hawks host UMass Boston at Wright Stadium at 4 p.m.