ALBANY, N.Y.  –  The University of Hartford men's lacrosse team was unable to keep pace with the No. 13 Albany Great Danes on Saturday afternoon, as it suffered its first America East loss by way of a 24-6 decision in New York's capital city. With the loss, the Hawks drop to 1-1 in league play and 3-4 overall while the Great Danes push their mark to 5-1, 2-0 in America East with their fourth-straight victory.

Albany opened up the game by scoring 13 of the first 14 goals and outscored Hartford by five goals or more in three of four quarters. Connor Fields netted five goals and added two assists for the Great Danes to pace all scorers while Seth Oakes contributed six points on four goals and two assists.

Freshman Justin Huggins struck twice for the Hawks to record a career-high in scoring while classmate Rion Davison added one goal and an assist. Rounding out the scorers for Hartford was senior Kevin O'Shea, and rookies Griffin Feiner and Trevor O'Brien.

Opening up the game with six unanswered scores, Huggins put Hartford on the board before the end of the first mad made it a 6-1 game. But Albany kept the offense going in the second as it netted seven unanswered goals to go up, 12-1, with 6:06 left in the second half. Thompson compiled his hat trick during that game-opening stretch while Fields and Oakes each added three goals apiece as well.

Back-to-back goals from Feiner and Huggins pulled the Hawks within 10 with 18 seconds left before halftime, before Tim Cox's unassisted score made it a 14-3 Albany lead at halftime. The Great Danes went on to outscore the Hawks, 10-3, in the second half to cruise to the home win.

Freshman Ryan Vanderford took the loss for Hartford, allowing 14 goals and making eight saves in 30 minutes. Sophomore Evan Quinn logged time in the final 30 minutes and turned away five shots while allowing 10 in. Making nine saves while conceding four goals in 45 minutes, Blaze Riorden improved to 5-1 for the Great Danes.

The Hawks return to action on Saturday afternoon with a 1 p.m. league clash at Binghamton.

THE TURNING POINT:
Albany got the offense going early and scored 13 of the game's 14 goals to take a 13-1 lead over Hartford. Lyle Thompson scored two times during the first 15 minutes as Hartford freshman Justin Huggins ended a game-opening 6-0 run by the Great Danes to make it a 6-1 game before the end of the first. The Great Danes pushed their advantage to 13-1 with 5:29 to go in the second quarter as Connor Fields struck three times within a six minute stretch while Thompson made it a 12-goal game with his third marker with 5:29 to go before halftime.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: 

·         Albany attempted 23 more shots than Hartford (54-31) and held a 37-16 edge in shots on goal

·         The Great Danes also held advantages in ground balls (50-36) while going 20-23 in clears and 4-7 on man-up opportunities

·         The Hawks committed 23 turnovers and converted on just 12-of-19 clears on the afternoon

·         Hartford was beat inside of the faceoff circle as Albany held an 18-15 edge in victories, led by a 14-of-27 effort by Connor Russel

·         Hawk freshman Dylan Protesto won half of his 20 faceoff attempts

·         Leading Hartford's offense was freshman Justin Huggins, who scored two goals 

NEWS AND NOTES: 

·         Freshman Justin Huggins matched a career-high in goals with two for Hartford

·         Hartford has lost four in a row against Albany, and 11 of the last 12, to drop to 4-14 in the all-time series 

UP NEXT:.
Following a week-long hiatus, Hartford resumes America East action on Saturday afternoon when it heads to Binghamton to face the Bearcats. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. from the Events Center in Vestal, N.Y.