WEST HARTFORD, CT - The University of Hartford lacrosse team finished up the 2006 season with a 12-8 loss to the University of Vermont on Saturday afternoon at Al-Marzook Field.
Senior Matt Holman led the Hawks (3-12 overall, 0-5 America East) with three goals on the day. Both Sean Layton and Pete Hein had hat tricks for the Catamounts (9-6 overall, 1-4 America East) as Vermont won its first conference game of the season.
The Catamounts got off to a good start, scoring within the first three minutes on a shot by Layton for an early 1-0 lead. Both teams then went silent on the offensive end for the remainder of the quarter, until Vermont snapped out of it with under a minute to play. Layton netted his second goal of the game with 52 seconds remaining and then assisted on score from Andrew Kelleher with two seconds left.
The Hawks bounced right back in the second quarter, scoring twice in the first five minutes to cut the deficit to one. Senior Josh Wasson-McQuigge found freshman Tyler Rubino in front of the net for the first score, and Holman netted the second. Vermont closed out the half with tallies from Hein and Matt Smith to take a 5-2 lead into the break.
Hartford opened the second-half scoring at the 12:29 mark on an unassisted goal by Holman to make it 5-3. The teams then played six scoreless minutes before the Catamounts took control of the game in the final six minutes of the stanza. UVM scored four times during the span, including a man-down goal from Austin Humphries on a fast break with 1:19 to play.
Vermont also scored the first two goals of the fourth quarter to open up its lead to 11-3, though Hartford hung tough and never quit working. The Hawks scored four straight goals to pull within 11-7 and were building momentum, capped by a man-up goal from senior Tim Chisholm with 5:20 remaining. UVM's Matt Smith, however, added an insurance goal with 4:32 to play, and the Catamounts played possession in the final minutes to keep the ball away from the Hawks.
Vermont outshot Hartford by a 35-27 margin and won 13 of 23 faceoffs. The Hawks held a 32-30 edge in ground balls and scored on two of three extra-man opportunities. The Catamounts were 0-for-4 on extra-man opportunities.
Prior to the game, nine Hartford seniors were honored in a special senior day ceremony. The Hawks' seniors included Holman, Wasson-McQuigge, Shaun Kiviat, Jeremy Gage, John Waterman, Justin Ramstine, Tim Chisholm, Brandon Herbst and Andrew Rohmer.
