ONEONTA, NY – The Hartwick Hawks netted a pair of first-half goals and held off the visiting Farmingdale State Rams in the second half to claim a 2-1 victory in their season opener on Sunday afternoon on Elmore Field.
           
The result is the first taste of victory for the program since October 21, 2017 and first since the announcement of the move to Division III competition. Four newcomers to the program figured into the scoring on the day, including Drew Crawford (Queensbury, NY/Queensbury), who picked up the game-winning tally in his first collegiate game.
           
The Hawks nearly broke the ice just five minutes into the contest as junior forward Troy Amegashie (Accra, Ghana/Tema International School) stormed into the Farmingdale box. He tried to curl his right-footed shot inside the back post but he pushed his effort just wide of the target.
           
Eight and a half minutes later, the Rams had a great chance as Romeo Lepe's shot from 20 yards away looked destined for the corner of the Hawks' goal. Goalkeeper Aidan Wholihan (Annapolis, MD/St. Mary's Annapolis) had other ideas as he leapt to his right to make a diving save to keep the game level.
           
In the 20^th minute, the Hawks broke through as freshman Joey Bertone (Jamesville, NY/Jamesville-DeWitt) received a back pass from classmate Zach Craft (Unadilla, NY/Unatego Central) and played a ball into Amegashie at the top of the Ram box. Amegashie corralled the ball and headed it into space to elude his defender before unleashing a bomb to the far corner past Farmingdale keeper Jacob Liese.
           
The Hawks wasted little time netting an insurance goal as they secured their second in the 25^th minute. Freshman Alex Charest (Baldwinsville, NY/C.W. Baker) served his free kick from the right side of the Rams' goal up and over Liese. His shot struck the crossbar and fell to Crawford who was there on the doorstep to slot it home for what would prove to be the winner.
           
Farmingdale struck back in the 32^nd minute as Alec Chapoteau played teammate Chris Schmidt into the 'Wick box. He was all alone with Wholihan and beat him to the far side to cut the lead in half.
           
Scoring chances were at a premium in the second half as both teams combined to register only six shots. The Rams pressed for the tying goal in the final five minutes with a couple of blocked shots and a corner, but the Hawks held them out to claim the victory.
           
The Rams ended the match with a 15-8 edge in shots. They earned three corners to the Hawks' one.
           
Wholihan got the win in goal. He made five stops in 55 minutes of action. Britt Reisman (Vero Beach, FL/Saint Edward's School) played the final 35:02 in first action in a Hartwick uniform. Liese and Justin Silva combined for one stop in the Farmingdale goal.
           
Hartwick remains at home next weekend as it competes in the Mayor's Cup. The Hawks host Penn State Harrisburg on Saturday, September 7 at 4 p.m.