VESTAL, N.Y.  – Senior Kevin O'Shea and sophomore Alec Brown each recorded hat tricks on Saturday afternoon as the University of Hartford men's lacrosse team (4-4) improved to 2-1 in the America East with a 13-12 win at Binghamton. The Bearcats (2-6) drop to 1-1 in conference play.

Hartford opened up the game by taking a 5-1 lead after the first quarter and never looked back, despite a late charge by the Bearcats. Heading into the fourth quarter, the Hawks saw a 12-7 edge dwindle down to one in the final minutes of action, but held off Binghamton as Ben Kocis' potential game-tying goal was turned off course by a Hartford defender.

Brown added a pair of assists to his first career hat trick to finish with five points, a career-high. Making his season debut against the Bearcats was Jaedon Henderson, a sophomore attackman who missed the first seven games with an injury. He also finished with a team-high five points, scoring twice and dishing out three assists. Rookie Justin Huggins rounded out the team's top scorers with a pair of goals.

JT Hauck tied a game-high in scoring with five points on five goals for Binghamton. Three of his scores came in the last quarter as the Bearcats outscored the Hawks, 5-1, during that final stretch to pull within one with 1:40 remaining.

Starting the game off with two-straight scores from Brown and Huggins, Hartford had its 2-1 lead halved with 9:52 left in the first as Daniel Mazurek put Binghamton on the board with an unassisted score. The Hawks were quick to respond, though, as Brown, freshman Griffin Feiner and senior Matt Carroll strung together three-straight scores over a four-minute stretch to put the Hawks up by four goals at 5-1 before the end of the first.

Binghamton made things interesting in the second quarter and made it a one-goal contest with 6:46 left before halftime. Hauck struck two times in that span as the Bearcats outscored the Hawks, 4-1, to close the visiting team's advantage to 6-5. With 2:56 to play before halftime, O'Shea's second marker of the game on the board with what triggered a half-ending, 3-0 spurt that gave his team a four-goal cushion at 9-5 heading into the locker rooms.

That lead would be extended to five before the end of the third as Hartford outscored Binghamton, 3-2, during that stretch to maintain the edge. Ryan Vanderford (4-4) earned the win for the Hawks in goal after turning away eight shots. Tanner Cosens registered a game-high 11 saves between the pipes for Binghamton.

Hartford returns to action on Tuesday afternoon when it heads to Loudonville, N.Y., to take on Siena at 3:30 p.m.

 Led 12-7, Binghamton scored five of the last six… Hawks opened up with a 4-1 lead.

THE TURNING POINT:
Jumping out to a 5-1 lead before the end of the first quarter, Hartford allowed Binghamton to linger as it opened up the second quarter by conceding four goals while only finding the back of the net once during that stretch. The Hawks never gave up their lead, though, and went on to build a five-goal cushion at 9-5 thanks to a half-ending, 3-0 spurt. Hartford expanded that lead to five goals – an edge that proved to be too large for the Bearcats to overcome – as senior Kevin O'Shea and sophomore Jaedon Henderson ended the third with back-to-back scores.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: 

·         Four Hawks recorded multi-goal games on Saturday afternoon led by hat tricks from sophomore Alec Brown and senior Kevin O'Shea as the Hawks defeated Binghamton, 13-12

·         Freshman goalie Ryan Vanderford turned away eight shots in the cage for the Hawks to improve to 4-4 on the year

·         The Hawks edged the Bearcats in shots, 38-37, and held a 29-27 ground ball advantage while committing just 12 turnovers

·         Hartford converted on its lone extra-man opportunity while its man-down unit kept Binghamton without a goal in its two man-up chances

·         Defensively, the Hawks recorded seven caused turnovers, led by three from rookie attackman Griffin Feiner

·         Kevin Sanna, a junior defender, corralled a career-high five ground balls in the win

·         Binghamton held the advantage in the faceoff X as the Bearcats won 16-of-29 duels; Daniel Mazurek went 15-of-27 at the X for the Bearcats while Dylan Protesto, the Hawks faceoff specialist, went 10-of-23 

NEWS AND NOTES: 

·         Kevin O'Shea recorded his 15th career hat trick in Saturday's win at Binghamton and with four total points on the afternoon, he moved into seventh place on Hartford's all-time scoring list with 143 career points

·         Freshman Alec Brown also netted a hat trick, the first of his career, and came away with five points, a career-high

·         After missing the first seven games of the season, sophomore Jaedon Henderson made his return against the Bearcats on Saturday, compiling a team-best five points on two goals and three assists

·         Hartford has won three of the last four games against Binghamton

·         Attackman Griffin Feiner, a freshman, recorded a career-high three caused turnovers

·         Saturday's win ended a two-game skid for Hartford, which was coming off road losses to Holy Cross and then-ranked No. 13 Albany 

UP NEXT:.
The Hawks conclude their four-game road stand on Tuesday afternoon with a tilt at Siena, the defending MAAC champion. Opening faceoff from Loudonville, N.Y., is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.