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WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – With his second goal of the evening, junior Anthony Santaga netted the game-winning goal in overtime to lead the University of Hartford men's soccer team to a thrilling, 2-1 victory over its neighboring rival Central Connecticut at Al-Marzook Field on Monday evening. With wins in their last two outings, the Hawks are now 2-2 overall on the season.

The crosstown derby, which was played between a record-breaking crowd of 1,504 fans packed into Alumni Stadium, was a physical battle between the two rivals. The Hawks and Blue Devils combined for 34 fouls which were distributed evenly among the two teams while five yellow cards were issued during the 93-minute match.

Santaga and the Hawks wasted little time to get on the scoreboard as they took the 1-0 lead in the ninth minute. After intercepting a pass near the midfield line, Santaga went the distance, beating a pair of Central Connecticut defenders and eluding keeper Anthony Occhialini in the process. The goal was the first of the season for Santaga, who led the squad with six markers a year ago.

Central Connecticut (1-1), which took a 5-3 advantage in shots on goal in the first half, tied it up at 1-1 in the closing seconds of that stanza. With just 14 ticks remaining before halftime, the Blue Devils, who worked the ball into Hawks' 18-yard box, used a series of touch passes by Jesse Menzie and Stephen Walmsley to find Eddy Bogle in front of the net. A tap off the boot of Bogle was all the visiting squad needed to tie up the match in the 45th minute.

Despite allowing the late goal, rookie keeper Viltsu Tuumi had an impressive outing with a personal-best seven saves. After smothering back-to-back opportunities by the Blue Devils in the eighth minute of the first half, Tuumi was clutch down the stretch making rejections on two-straight shots in the 69th minute to prevent the go-ahead goal.

Both teams saw several scoring opportunities in the second half, but neither team could finish in regulation. In the third minute of extra time, Santaga provided the heroics after using his head to connect on a perfectly placed feed from classmate David Bernhardsson.

Occhialini finished the match with three saves. The Blue Devils finished on top in shots with a 14-11 edge and led 7-1 in corner kicks.

The Hawks' home stand was not a long one as they head to Philadelphia for their next two games. Hartford first plays Villanova on the home field of Penn University on Friday at 7:00 p.m. before taking on the Quakers on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.