BOX SCORE

BALTIMORE, Md. – A slow start proved to be detrimental to the University of Hartford men's lacrosse team as it could not recover from a five-goal deficit and fell by a 16-12 final to the UMBC Retrievers at UMBC Stadium in both teams' first game of America East Conference play. With the loss, the Hawks dip to 3-7 (0-1 AE) on the season while the Retrievers improve to a mark of 3-4 overall (1-0 AE).

The Hawks combined to outscore the Retrievers, 13-12, over the final three quarters however UMBC's hot start, which featured a 5-0 first quarter run, proved to be the decision maker in the contest.

Joe Lustgarten tallied a game-high eight points on five goals, three of which came in the opening stanza, and three assists. Scott Jones added four scores for UMBC while Matt Gregoire netted a hat trick to round out the Retrievers' top scorers. For the Hawks, Jared Franze and Carter Bender finished with four points, each contributing a hat trick.

The Retrievers got things going right away by taking advantage of a pair of Hawks' penalties, one of which was locked-in, to move ahead at 2-0.

Lustgarten delivered the Retievers' first goal of the evening just 12 seconds into the extra-man opportunity at 10:29 while Jones used a feed from Scott Hopmann to quickly double the home team's lead at the 9:43 mark.

The rally continued for the Retrievers as they netted three more unanswered scores, a pair of which came out of the stick of Lustgarten, within a span of three minutes to take a commanding 5-0 advantage with 4:34 to go in the opening quarter.

Hartford responded from the scoreless stanza in the second with a pair of goals, but was unable to gain any ground as the defense allowed three more in. Senior Ryan Compitello got the offense going when he cleaned up on a shot by his linemate Bender, shoveling the rebound past UMBC goalie Adam Cohen just 21 ticks out of the face-off.

UMBC, however, strung together two unanswered, starting with a goal by Derek Bertolini and following that with an unassisted tally by Lustgarten to provide the home team with its largest advantage of the half at 7-1 with 6:27 to go until intermission.

Amidst another scoring drought and desperately in need of a goal, the Hawks got an answer from rookie Kevin O'Shea, who snapped a 12 minute scoreless span and cut the gap to five with his 15th marker of the season at the 2:51 mark. With 25 seconds to go in the half, Gregoire helped UMBC regain that six goal edge and provide the halftime score of 8-2.

UMBC and Hartford played an even third quarter, tallying six goals apiece during that stretch. The two teams combined for three scores in the first 1:49 of the quarter, with the Retrievers outlasting the Hawks, 2-1, to claim the lead at 10-3.

UMBC struck first just 26 seconds out of the faceoff to make it a 9-2 game but Bender quickly responded when he tossed in his 20th goal of the season, unassisted, with 86 ticks off the scoreboard. The Retrievers pushed their lead to eight goals, wasting little time out of the ensuing faceoff to make it an 11-3 contest.

For the first time in the game, Hartford strung together back-to-back scores and slowly started to chisel away at its eight-goal deficit. Franze started the run with a bullet from 25 yards away from the crease and Martin Bowes followed-up 93 seconds later, using a feed from Compitello to pull the Hawks within six with 8:32 left on the third quarter clock.

The Hawks continued to claw away and scored three of the next four goals to come within five, the first time since 5-1 in the second, with 14:37 left in the third quarter. Jones, however, answered for the Retrievers and found the back of the net with six seconds left in the third to regain the six goal edge.

 Bender kept the momentum going in favor of Hartford when he received a pass from Compitello 1:50 into the final quarter, sparking a 3-0 rally. The run continued with an unassisted goal by Franze, his third of the night, before junior Rory Nunamacher capped the streak and brought his team within three with 8:47 left in regulation.

Unfortunately for Hartford, it would not manage to come any closer to its opponents as UMBC ended the spurt a goal at the 7:41 mark and went on to put the game out of reach at 16-11 less than a minute later with a man-up goal by Lustgarten.

Despite being outshot, 22-11, in the first half, the Hawks finished with a two-shot disadvantage at 38-36. UMBC held the advantage in ground balls by a margin of 31-24 and won the battle at the face-off X, 17-of-32.

UMBC converted on four of its five extra-man chances while Hartford was 1-for-4 on the man-up.

The Hawks will look to rebound on Saturday, April 7 when they host the Albany Great Danes under the lights of Al-Marzook Field. Opening face-off will be at 7:00 p.m.