THE BASICS:

RESULT: No. 10/10 UAlbany 13, Hartford 9
RECORDS: Hartford (4-4, 1-1 AE); UAlbany (5-2, 2-0 AE)
LOCATION: Al-Marzook Field at Alumni Stadium (West Hartford, Conn.)
ATTENDANCE: 336

THE LEAD:

The University of Hartford men's lacrosse team put together a dominant fourth quarter against the 10th-ranked UAlbany Great Danes, but it wasn't enough to overcome an early deficit as the Hawks fell by a13-9 final on Saturday afternoon. Sophomore Justin Huggins scored each of his career-high four goals in the final quarter as the Hawks, who trailed by as many as nine in the second half, trimmed their deficit down to four using a 5-1 rally during that final stretch.

In the losing effort, sophomore Dylan Protesto put together another solid performance at the faceoff X. He won 17-of-22 attempts and finished with 11 ground balls. Connor Fields led all scorers with eight points, scoring seven times for the Great Danes while adding an assist.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Great Danes came out of the gates firing, as they opened up the game with five unanswered goals over the first 10:05. Adam Osika got the scoring going 43 seconds in, while Fields struck twice during that stretch.
• Junior midfielder Doug Biondi stopped the bleeding for the Hawks in the final minute of the stanza, as he connected with freshman Dylan Jinks to close the gap to four goals before the end of the quarter. Thanks to a Great Danes' penalty at the end of the first, Hartford would make it a 2-0 spurt in the opening seconds of the second quarter behind an unassisted score from junior Alec Brown. The Hawks were granted possession on the man-up to start the second, and Brown quickly capitalized by scoring 22 seconds in.
• That wouldn't be enough momentum for Hartford to get a significant run going, though. UAlbany went on to score five more unanswered goals, with Fields accounting for the final three to make it a 10-2 lead for the visiting team with 3:34 left until halftime. Before the break, the Hawks managed to close the gap to seven, scoring on another extra-man opportunity. Using another feed from Jinks, junior Jaedon Henderson closed out the first-half scoring and provided the 10-3 margin at the break.
• Out of the intermission, the Hawks' defense clamped down for the second half. Keeping UAlbany off the scoreboard for the first 11 minutes of the third, Hartford went on to hold the Great Danes to just two scores during that 15-minute stretch. Seth Oakes, UAlbany's leading scorer, got on the board for the first time on the afternoon with 4:02 remaining before Fields extended the lead to 12-3 with his sixth score of the game with 1:45 left. But the Hawks would get on the board before the end of the stanza, with an unassisted score from sophomore Trevor O'Brien with 14 ticks remaining closing the gap to 12-4.
• O'Brien's late third-quarter goal sparked a huge fourth quarter for the Hawks. During that stretch, Hartford outscored UAlbany, 5-1, to trim what was at one point a nine-goal deficit down to four before the final horn. Henderson got the scoring going early in the period, as he went unassisted with 13:04 left. After Fields struck for the Great Danes 32 seconds later, it was all Hartford – and Huggins – for the remainder of the game. An attackman who earned his first start of the season, Huggins rattled off four goals – two of which came eight seconds apart – to pull the Hawks within four scores of the three-time defending league champs.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Protesto, who entered the contest ranked third in the nation in faceoff percentage, continued his dominant stretch inside of the circle on Saturday, winning 77.3 percent of his 22 attempts. He has won more than 55 percent of his duels in each of the Hawks' eight games this season, and currently owns a .698 win percentage.
• Overall, Hartford held a 19-5 advantage in faceoffs, winning 79.2 percent of its 24 attempts. During the second and third quarters, the Hawks combined for a perfect 11-for-11 performance, coming away with seven and four victories, respectively. Sophomore Spencer Andrews added a 2-for-2 effort at the X for the Hawks.
• With his career-best four-goal outing, Huggins became the sixth different Hawk to net a hat trick this season.
• Henderson added a pair of goals and an assist to extend his point-scoring streak to eight games while Jinks dished out a team-best three assists.
• Hartford held advantages in shots (35-31) and ground balls (32-27).
• Vanderford and Riorden each recorded seven saves between the pipes in the contest..
• UAlbany was perfect in each of its 20 clear attempts.
• The Great Danes, who committed just nine turnovers, converted on 2-of-3 extra-man opportunities.

UP NEXT:                                                                     
The homestand continues for the Hawks on Tuesday, March 29, as the Holy Cross Crusaders are set to visit Al-Marzook Field at Alumni Stadium. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.