ONEONTA, NY – Ten different Hawks had multi-point games on Wednesday as the Hartwick men's lacrosse team defeated visiting Sage 19-7 in an Empire 8 Conference tilt at Wright Stadium. The victory is Hartwick's eighth straight, which ties the program record set in 1995. The Hawks, now at 8-1 overall, tie for the second-best start to a season and their four straight wins in the Empire 8 is just the second time in program history the team has started its conference slate 4-0.
           
Junior Wyatt Long (Hardwick, NJ/Blair Academy) paced the Hawks with game-highs of seven points and five goals. Freshman Dylan Ferguson (Baldwin, NY/Baldwin) added three goals and an assist and David Demand (Chittenango, NY/Chittenango) chipped in a goal and two assists.
           
Hartwick would score three times in the opening 1:47 of action to take control early. The Hawks ended the quarter up six goals, 7-1. After two goals in the second, Sage got one back to make it 9-2, but 'Wick responded with the next nine goals over 11:47 for an 18-2 lead in the third. The Gators would register five of the game's final six goals to trim the final deficit to twelve.
           
Seniors Chris VanDemark (Painted Post, NY/Corning-Painted Post), Garrison Wojtas (Hauppauge, NY/Hauppauge), juniors Nick Couvaris (Seaford, NY/Seaford), Mike Majchrzak (Plantville, CT/Southington), sophomores Alec Lind (Burnt Hills, NY/Burnt Hills Ballston Lake), Tim Watson (Wrentham, MA/King Philip Regional), and freshman Jacob Morenus (Homer, NY/Homer) each registered a goal and an assist on the day for the Hawks.
           
Senior Sam Ferguson (Baldwin, NY/Baldwin) and freshmen Zack Orth (North Haven, CT/North Haven), and Tyler Coleman (Round Lake, NY/Shenendehowa) each contributed one tally.
           
Junior C.J. Alesandrini (Schenectady, NY/Colonie) and freshmen Jared Tiong-Smith (Baldwin, NY/Baldwin) and sophomore Christian Olsen (Glenville, NY/Scotia-Glenville) all played in goal for 'Wick. Alesandrini played the first half and made two saves. Tiong-Smith stopped four shots in the third quarter and Olsen made three saves in the fourth.
           
Hartwick out-shot Sage by a margin of 49-24 in the contest. Both teams registered 51 ground balls. The Hawks were winners of 17 out of 29 face-offs.
           
Orth would win 13-of-18 face-offs. He also tied for a team-high with Wojtas with six ground balls. Matt Puzo (Apalachin, NY/Vestal) added five ground balls and Lind and Derek Chandler (Ballston Spa, NY/Ballston Spa) each recorded four. Chandler also caused a team-high two turnovers.
           
Matt Fisher paced the Gators with three goals. David Baraniuk added two scores. Shea Obado had a game-high eight ground balls.
           
The Hawks hit the road on Saturday for their next Empire 8 game against St. John Fisher (11-1). Something has to give as both teams will enter the contest unbeaten in the league at 4-0. 'Wick has won two straight against the Cardinals by the narrowest of margins. The Hawks took a 12-11 game in overtime the last time they traveled to Pittsford in 2017. They earned a 6-5 win last season in Oneonta.
           
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