FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The University of Hartford men's lacrosse team did not have an answer for a late barrage of fourth quarter goals and fell to #18/19 Fairfield University, 12-9, on the road in mid-week action on Tuesday afternoon.

Hartford falls to 3-8 on the season while the Stags improve to 7-3 overall.

Sophomore Aidan Genik led all scorers with four points. The attack notched his sixth hat trick of the season and added an assist on the afternoon. Justin Bearse and Carter Bender each added a pair of goals while Michael Cudmore contributed with two assists.

After a defensive battle in the first half that ended with the home team taking a slight 2-1 advantage, the Hawks and Stags combined for 18 goals in the final 30 minutes of the contest. Hartford muscled out four goals in the third but could not put together a rally as it allowed four goals by its opponents.

Fairfield broke the game open and put it out of reach at 11-5 with five unanswered goals in the opening six minutes of the final stanza. Despite closing out the game with four goals, the Hawks could not muster the comeback and fell by a final of 12-9.

After battling through 12:02 scoreless minutes, Fairfield's Ryan Mulford broke the deadlock with his unassisted score with 2:58 remaining in the opening stanza. Eight first quarter turnovers plagued the Hawks as the attack only managed to reel off a pair of shots in the opening period. Nick Baglio doubled the Stags' lead with his goal mid-way through the second quarter.

Hartford got on the scoreboard late into the second quarter as Michael Cudmore and Rory Nunamacher converted on a Fairfield turnover. Cudmore drew in two defenders and fed Nunamacher who bounced in his eighth goal on the season past the Stags' keeper from 20 feet out.

The Stags came out of the halftime break and scored the third goal of the contest after seeing just 11 ticks go off the scoreboard. Marshall Johnson found Brent Adams outside of the crease and Johnson slipped a shot past Hartford goalie Scott Bement.

The Hawks responded exactly three minutes later as Cudmore dodged a Fairfield defender and netted his sixth goal of the season to bring his squad within one goal. Fairfield was quick to get the point back however as Mulford found the upper left corner of the net with 6:01 to play in the third, giving Fairfield a 4-2 advantage.

Bender answered for Hartford just 63 seconds later when he fired a shot past Marra from 30-feet out. The goal was the midfielder's 11th this season to keep the Hawks in the game at 4-3.

The final two minutes of the quarter saw four goals, two by the Stags and a pair by the Hawks. Fairfield's John Snellman converted on an extra-man advantage with 1:57 remaining to once again cushion his team's lead to two goals at 5-3.

Hartford finally managed to string together a rally with a pair of unanswered goals to knot the game for the first time since the opening face-off. Genik found the back of the net with his 31st goal at the 1:36 mark and Bearse connected with Tim Fallon off the face-off just seven seconds later to tie the game at 5-5.

Fairfield's Nick Baglio put an end to the Hawks' streak and regained the lead with his bounce shot from 20 yards out that reached the back of the net before Bement had time to react.

The Stags continued their run with back-to-back goals in the opening seconds of the final quarter and reeled off three more scores in the next five minutes to cushion their lead to 11-5. Fairfield's Brent Adams capped the five-goal run with his solo score at the 9:02 mark.

Hartford snapped the Fairfield scoring barrage with 8:13 remaining as Genik tossed a feed from Cudmore into the back of the net past JD Coleman, Fairfield's back-up goalie.

Genik struck again when he tracked down a rebounded shot and stuffed the ball past the Fairfield keeper. Rookie Jared Franze launched a shot from the right that was saved by Marra but ricocheted off the goalie's stick into the cradle of Genik. The sophomore quickly released the shot past Coleman to bring the Hawks to 12-8 with 2:35 remaining.

Bender netted his second goal on the afternoon with 2:15 to play. The Hawks continued the rally and came within three goals as Genik returned the favor and set up senior Justin Bearse for his 13th goal of the season at the 1:26 mark however time expired before Hartford could complete the comeback.

Bement turned away 12 shots in goal while his counterpart Marra made 11 saves. Hartford was 0-for-4 in man-up opportunities and the Stags converted on one of three extra-man situations.    

The Hawks resume America East conference play and return to Al-Marzook Field for the first time in two weeks when they host the Vermont Catamounts on Saturday, April 17. Opening face-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.