Box Score AMHERST, Mass. – University of Hartford junior Kevin O'Shea netted his third hat trick of the season, but a flurry of second-half goals by UMass propelled the 11th-ranked Minutemen past the Hawks in a 12-6 final on Saturday at Garber Field. Dipping to 4-4, the Hawks return to West Hartford to open up a four-game homestand on Tuesday evening against the Holy Cross Crusaders at 7 p.m.

In what started out to be a defensive battle between the two squads, Hartford clawed back from a three-point deficit to tie up the game at 5-5 with 5:19 left to go in the third quarter. The Minutemen rallied, though, as they closed out the game with a 7-1 run, a span that included six-straight scores, to come away with the win on their home field.

O'Shea compiled four points to pace the Hawks' offense. With his second goal of the game at the 10:14 mark of the third quarter, he became the 17th member to join Hartford's 100-Point Club and now has 102 total points on his career. Nick Marino had three goals and an assist to lead UMass while Connor Mooney's six points on two goals and four helpers were a game-high.

The first three goals of the afternoon belonged to UMass as Mariano and Matt Whippen gave the home team a 2-0 lead at the end of the first before Robert Lynot extended that advantage to 3-0 with 10:26 left in the second. Before the end of the half, the Hawks managed to bring that deficit down to a single point as senior Conner Yatauro scored Hartford's first goal of the contest midway through the second quarter. O'Shea kept the spurt going and closed the gap to 3-2, the halftime score, with his 19th goal of the year with 4:48 to play before halftime.

Out of the break, Grant Whiteway extended the Minutemen advantage back to a pair of goals as he scored just 62 seconds into the third. But the Hawks went on a run, reeling off three of the next four scores to tie things up for the first time since opening faceoff at 5-5. O'Shea had a share in all three of Hartford's goals during that spurt, scoring twice and setting up senior Andrew Cacchio for the game-tying marker with 5:19 left in the third.

Hartford would never take a lead in the contest, though, as UMass turned up the offense and ran away with the game. Closing out the third with four-straight goals, Mariano and Whiteway made it a 6-0 Minutemen run and a 10-5 advantage for the home team with scores at the 13:33 and 8:35 marks of the fourth quarter. Freshman Jaedon Henderson ended the Hawks' scoring drought – one that spanned 13 minutes – midway through the final stanza, but it wasn't enough for the visitors to spark a comeback bid.

Senior goalie Frank Piechota made a season-best 14 saves in the contest, posting his fourth-straight double-digit save outing. He worked 57 minutes between the pipes before senior Dan Zenevitch made his season debut for the final three minutes. UMass held advantages in shots (38-28), ground balls (30-22) and went 14-of-21 at the faceoff X.