ONEONTA, NY – Hartwick jumped out to a 4-0 lead and then held on late to topple Nazareth 14-13 on Saturday at Wright Stadium. The victory is Hartwick's second straight over the Golden Flyers after winning just once in the first 30 games of the series. The Hawks are now 6-1 with six straight victories and they improve to 3-0 in the Empire 8. The win streak is tied for the third-best in program history. Nazareth falls to 3-7 overall and 1-2 in league play.
           
Sam Ferguson (Baldwin, NY/Baldwin) had a hand in five goals on the day to lead Hartwick, scoring three and dishing out two assists. Kainen Francis-Thompson (Hogansburg, NY/Massena) added three goals and David Demand (Chittenango, NY/Chittenango) contributed two scores and two assists. Chris VanDemark (Painted Post, NY/Corning Painted-Post) and Tim Watson (Wrentham, MA/King Philip Regional) also had two tallies apiece.
           
Nazareth received five goals and an assist from Anthony Basile. Jack Crowley netted four goals and Drew McNerney delivered six assists.
           
Hartwick started the game strong as Demand gave his team the lead with an unassisted goal after 3:48. The Hawks then scored three times in a 1:41 span to jump out to a 4-0 advantage. Watson, Nick Couvaris (Seaford, NY/Seaford), and Demand netted the goals. Nazareth would get on the scoreboard at the 6:29 mark and the Hawks and Golden Flyers would trade goals over the next three minutes. VanDemark and Francis-Thompson scored for Hartwick, Kevin Hussey and Basile scored Naz's goals. Sam Ferguson extended the lead to five, 7-2, with 1:36 left in the quarter but the Flyers got two back in the final minute to trim the Hawks' lead to three, 7-4.
             
Crowley made it a two-goal game early in the second, but Francis-Thompson scored his second of the day and Dylan Ferguson (Baldwin, NY/Baldwin) tallied on the man-up for a 9-5 lead. Naz scored at the 11:16 mark but it would be the final goal of the half.
           
Basile made it 9-7 5:48 into the third quarter. Hartwick answered with back-to-back goals 36 ticks apart. Sam Ferguson scored the first with Watson following it up for an 11-7 lead. The Golden Flyers got back into the game with three straight tallies in a 3:32 window to trim the margin to just one, 11-10, after three quarters.
           
Sam Ferguson scored an insurance goal off an Alec Lind (Burnt Hills, NY/Burnt Hills Ballston Lake) feed just 15 seconds into the final quarter. VanDemark then scored from a tough angle to extend the lead to three, 13-10. Two more Naz goals made it a one-goal game again near the midway point of the quarter. Francis-Thompson gave the Hawks some breathing room at 5:06 with his third of the game to make it 14-12 Hartwick.
           
The Hawks were whistled for a 2-minute non-releasable penalty at the 4:05 mark. Crowley scored at 3:37 but the Hawks were able to kill off the remaining 1:32 of the penalty and maintain their one-goal edge. 'Wick killed the clock until roughly 40 seconds remained but another penalty put Naz on the man-up. The Flyers recorded three shots in the final 12 seconds in search of the tying goal. The first was high, the second was wide, and McNerney's shot just before the horn was blocked and the Hawks squeezed out the victory.
           
C.J. Alesandrini (Schenectady, NY/Colonie) would come up with 12 saves in the game for Hartwick. Naz goalie Eric Almquist would stop 15 Hartwick shots in the match.
             
Naz out-shot the Hawks 49-44. The Golden Flyers also had the edge in ground balls, 41-35, and they won 22-of-31 face-offs.
           
Garrison Wojtas (Hauppauge, NY/Hauppauge) tied for a game-high 11 ground balls and he led all players with three caused turnovers. Wojtas now has 232 ground balls for his career and he jumps to sixth in the program record books.
           
Defender Matt Puzo (Apalachin, NY/Vestal) and Derek Chandler (Ballston Spa, NY/Ballston Spa) each had four ground balls. Puzo caused a pair of turnovers and Chandler contributed one. Francis-Thompson and Lind chipped in with three GBs apiece.
           
Hartwick next hits the road for a non-conference game at Emmanuel on Saturday, April 6.
           
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