BOX SCORE
WEST ISLIP, NY - The University of Hartford lacrosse team dropped a 10-8 decision to Siena College on Saturday afternoon at St. John the Baptist High School.
Hartford (0-6 overall) never led in the contest but kept it close throughout. Siena (3-5 overall) never led by more than three goals and entered the fourth quarter with a slim 8-7 edge. The Saints then scored twice to open a 10-7 lead with 5:11 to play that proved too much for the Hawks to surmount.
Junior Justin Bearse led the Hawks with three goals while freshman Carter Bender added two goals and an assist. Freshmen Ryan Compitello and Aidan Genik also recorded a goal and an assist on the afternoon. Shaun Dunn led Siena with three goals.
Siena jumped out to a 2-0 lead after John Rogener and Bryan Neufeld scored seven seconds apart nearly seven minutes into the contest. Bearse answered with his first goal a few minutes later on a feed from Genik, and the Hawks trailed 2-1 after the first quarter.
The Saints started the second quarter with an extra-man opportunity and made the most of it. Dunn took a feed from Ryan Duggan and scored his first goal of the day just 21 seconds into the stanza. Hartford responded with a pair of goals over the next four minutes to tie the game at 3-3, the first from Compitello and the second by senior Jacob Eustice.
Matt Leithead put Siena back up with a score with 5:07 to play in the half, but Bearse brought Hartford right back with a man-up goal off a pass from Bender. Jordan Loftus scored the final goal of the half with 1:58 to go to give the Saints a 5-4 lead at the half.
Siena began the second half with a man-advantage and once again capitalized, as Dunn found the back of the net off an assist from Neufeld. Duggan then tacked on another score just over a minute later to give the Saints their biggest lead of the game at 7-4.
Hartford trimmed the deficit back to one with goals from Genik and Bender. After Dunn completed the hat trick to put Siena up 8-6, Bearse netted his third goal of the day with four seconds remaining in the third quarter. His shot, which deflected off a Siena defenseman and trickled over the goal line, pulled the Hawks to within 8-7 entering the final quarter.
Siena controlled the pace in the fourth quarter and scored twice to take a three-goal lead. Kenny Mazzone's goal with 5:11 to play put the Saints up 10-7, and although Bender added a goal with 2:31 to go, the Hawks couldn't rally to get any closer.
Freshman Scott Bement made the start in goal for the Hawks and made 15 saves. Brent Herbst made 14 stops in goal for the Saints, who held a 39-30 advantage in shots and a 31-29 edge in ground balls.
The game was played at a neutral site to raise money for Lacrosse for Leukemia. All proceeds from ticket and program sales were donated to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Long Island.
Hartford will next host Yale University on Tuesday, March 24 at Alumni Stadium at 3:30 p.m.
