BOX SCORE

STONY BROOK, N.Y. – The University of Hartford men's lacrosse team could not continue its recent trend of pulling out the comeback victory on Wednesday evening as its 2011 America East Championship title defense was halted by the top-seeded Stony Brook Seawolves in a 9-8 decision in the tournament's semifinal round at La Valle Stadium.

Hartford, which reached the tournament in its last two seasons following an eight-year absence, closes out its 2012 campaign with a mark of 6-9 while with an identical record, Stony Brook advances to the title game where it will host Albany on Saturday afternoon.

The Hawks' offense struggled to find their rhythm early in the game as Stony Brook jumped out to a 4-0 lead with 12:37 left to play in the second quarter. Hartford finally got the jitters out and went on to score the last two goals before the conclusion of the first half to cut its deficit in half at 4-2. After Stony Brook extended its lead by three in the third, the Hawks battled and closed the gap to a single point on five occasions but were never able to get over the hump with the equalizer.

Junior Jared Franze paced Hartford's offense with a pair of goals while senior attacker Carter Bender added one to go along with three assists for a team-best four points. Mike Rooney, the league's rookie of the year, tallied a game-best five points (2 goals, 3 assists) while Matt Bellando and Cole Millican each netted a pair to lead the Seawolves.

Bellando scored the first two goals of the game Seawolves as he capitalized on an extra-man opportunity with 13:39 left in the opening quarter and doubled his team's advantage on a transition goal with at the period's 9:52 mark.

As the first quarter winded down, Stony Brook, which outshot Hartford 10-6 in that 15 minute span, snuck in one more goal to go up by a 3-0 edge heading into the second stanza. Hawks' goalie Scott Bement was in place to make the save, but he could not completely handle the rebound as it trickled behind him and rolled in towards back of the net.

Millican shoveled in Stony Brook's fourth and final goal of the half less than three minutes into the second before Hartford, after a 26 minute drought, put its first tally on the scoreboard thanks to an unassisted score by Kevin O'Shea. The rookie's 23rd goal of the season cut the Hawks' gap to three at 4-1 with 3:29 left to play until intermission.

Hartford continued to answer on the offensive end as Bender halved his team's deficit, using a feed from junior Rory Nunamacher with just five ticks remaining to provide the halftime margin of 4-2.

Out of the break, Stony Brook regained its three-goal cushion thanks to a Jeff Tundo goal just 55 seconds into the third period but the Hawks answered as junior Jared Franze rifled in back-to-back scores to pull the Hawks within one for the first time since the opening minutes of the game.

Franze's first goal was delivered from 15-yards out with 12:41 left in the third while the midfielder's second, a bounce shot from the same distance, eluded Brady at the 7:15 mark to make it a 5-4 game.

The final minutes of the third quarter saw a flurry of goals as each squad netted a pair to send the Hawks into the final period facing a one-goal setback at 7-6. Robbie Campbell started the goal surplus and in favor of the Seawolves but Conner Yatauro countered for the Hawks, cranking back from 12-yards out and beating goalie Sean Brady to again pull within one, this time at 6-5, with 2:49 to go.

Twenty-eight seconds later, Stony Brook went ahead by two on a Rooney goal before Ryan Compitello cut the edge to a single goal when he hit the upper right corner of the cage at the 1:57 mark.

In the final quarter, Stony Brook struck first to push ahead by a pair. Hartford made it a one-goal affair on a score by Rory Nunamacher with less than nine minutes left but Stony Brook again regained its two-goal cushion.

With the game clock rapidly winding down, the Hawks' possessions were few and far between as Aidan Genik closed the gap to one with just over two minutes left, however there was not enough time for the visiting squad to muster up a goal to erase its deficit.

Senior Ben Knapton forced his opponents into three turnovers while Scott Bement made seven saves in cage for the Hawks. Bement closes out his career as the third winningest goalie in Hartford's 27-year Division I history (17) and is ranked fourth in the record books with 506 career rejections.

The Hawks lose 12 seniors to graduation as Bement, Bender, Martin Bowes, Compitello, Michael Cudmore, Genik, Kyle Goodchild, Steven Groccia, Scott Kessler, Knapton, Austin Rogers and Kevin Whelan played their final game in the Scarlet and White.

Bender finishes his career as the program's fourth-best scorer with 169 points. Compitello and Genik have also left their marks in Hartford's record books as Compitello is in third place with 82 career assists and Genik is fifth in goals (106).