Men's Lacrosse | 5/2/2017 8:04:00 PM

ONEONTA, NY – Hartwick makes its return to the Empire 8 playoffs after an 11-year hiatus on Wednesday afternoon as the Hawks visit top-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology in a match played at DeBaun Athletic Complex. The Hawks garnered the fourth seed in the tournament after securing a 5-3 league record. The Ducks, who are currently ranked eighteenth in the latest USILA national poll, finished tied with Ithaca at 7-1 but earned the tie-breaker on head-to-head results.
           
Wednesday's game marks a rematch of a meeting between the Hawks and Ducks on the same field exactly three weeks ago on April 12. The difference proved to be a seven-goal second quarter for Stevens which it used to propel it to a 12-7 victory over 'Wick.
           
The two teams nearly mirrored each other statistically in the contest with Hartwick out-shooting Stevens 38-36 and the Ducks edging the Hawks in ground balls 34-32. 'Wick held a 12-11 edge in face-offs. Even in the decisive second quarter, the Ducks only out-shot the Hawks 13-10. But they managed to score on seven of their opportunities, including five in a 6:44 span to pull away.
           
In the first encounter, Jake Sachse (Lutherville, MD/Boys' Latin School of MD) led Hartwick with two goals and two assists with Brett Maguire (Adams Center, NY/South Jefferson) contributing a pair of goals and one helper. Connor McKeon countered for Stevens with a game-high three tallies. Max Bailey, Tommy Dawson, and John Boutureira each had a pair of scores.
           
Hartwick made back-to-back appearances in the Empire 8 playoffs in the 2004 and 2005 seasons. In '04, the fourth-seeded Hawks dropped a 19-9 decision to top-seeded Ithaca in the semifinals. The following year, the Hawks earned the second seed and topped RIT in the semis, 9-8. Hartwick would host the Empire 8 final, but the fourth-seeded Nazareth Golden Flyers were too much in an 18-7 loss in Oneonta. It would mark the first of two instances in Empire 8 Conference history that the fourth seed has run the table for the championship. The Hawks will look to become the third to do it beginning Wednesday.
           
Offensively for 'Wick, Sam Ferguson (Baldwin, NY/Baldwin) paces the team in goals scored with 28 this season. Sachse is also a 20-goal scorer who leads the team in both points (38) and assists (18). Freshman David Demand (Chittenango, NY/Chittenango) has contributed eight goals and 12 assists with Maguire adding 10 tallies and nine helpers. Sophomore Cordell Armstrong (Harleysville, PA/Souderton Area) and freshman Wyatt Long (Hardwick, NJ/Blair Academy) each have 11 goals.
           
Junior Eric Schweitzer (Babylon, NY/Babylon) leads the conference in caused turnovers per game (3.72) and is second in ground balls per game (8.45) despite playing in only 11 of the Hawks' 14 games. Sophomore Garrison Wojtas (Hauppauge, NY/Hauppauge) is second in the league in caused turnovers (2.29) and is eighth in ground balls (4.14).
           
Senior James Vogt (Stratham, NH/Exeter) is the Hawks' top face-off man winning 136-of-227 on the season. His .596 percentage ranks him third in the Empire 8.
           
Goalkeeping duties have fallen on the shoulders of sophomore Connor O'Brien (Duxbury, MA/Duxbury) and freshman C.J. Alesandrini (Schenectady, NY/Colonie). O'Brien has registered 92 saves in 11 games. Alesandrini has made the last three starts and collected 27 stops in those contests.
           
A victory for Hartwick against Stevens would send it into Saturday's Empire 8 Championship game. The Hawks would visit the Ithaca-Nazareth winner on Saturday, May 6 at noon.
           
A live stream of Wednesday's clash between the Hawks and Ducks can be found at: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/stevens/. Live stats can be found at: http://sidearmstats.com/stevens/mlax/.