THE BASICS:

RESULT: Hartford 16, Manhattan 4
RECORDS: Hartford (2-2); Manhattan (0-5)
LOCATION: Gaelic Park (Riverdale, N.Y.)
ATTENDANCE: 271

THE LEAD:

A dominant second half propelled the University of Hartford men's lacrosse team to a 16-4 oust of Manhattan on the Jaspers' home turf of Gaelic Park on Saturday afternoon. Freshman Dylan Jinks tallied eight points behind four goals and four assists to lead all scorers while sophomore Griffin Feiner added four points on three scores and an assist.

Nine different Hawks recorded at least one goal in the contest as Hartford broke open a 4-2 lead at the half with a 6-1 run in the third quarter. The win – Hartford's third-straight against Manhattan – pushes the Hawks' advantage against the Jaspers to 4-1. Parker Giarratana and Matt Garvey accounted for all of the Jaspers' scoring on the afternoon with two goals apiece.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The two squads exchanged goals to start off the game as junior Alec Brown connected on a feed from Jinks five minutes in to put the Hawks on the board before Manhattan responded less than three minutes later with a goal from Garvey.
• After a Jaspers' turnover caused by freshman defender Zach Elkinson translated into a Feiner goal with 6:10 left in the first, the Hawks struck twice within a 38-second stretch to push the lead to 4-1 with 4:12 to go in the quarter. Brown provided Hartford with the two-goal edge before sophomore Will Dulin gave the Hawks with their largest lead of the half with his first of two scores of the game.
• Before the end of the quarter, Garvey would cut the Hawks' lead in half at 4-2 with his second and final goal of the afternoon. That score would stand until halftime as neither side would see the back of the net in the second quarter, despite the teams combining for 16 shot attempts. Both goalies proved to be on-point with sophomore Ryan Vanderford making four saves and his counterpart, Michael Zingaro, coming up with five of his game-high 19 stops during that stretch.
• The Hawks dominated the third quarter and pulled away from the Jaspers using a 6-1 run. Feiner opened the scoring four minutes in to complete the hat trick and push the lead to 6-2, but Parker responded for Manhattan with a goal at the 6:24 mark to again make it a three-goal game.
• From there, it was all Hartford for the remainder of the quarter. Behind five-straight faceoff wins – three from sophomore Dylan Protesto and two from classmate Spencer Andrews – the Hawks scored four goals over the final 5:35 to take a comfortable, 10-3 advantage heading into the final quarter. Jinks had a hand in all four of his team's goals during that stretch as he scored twice and assisted on two others.
• Limiting Manhattan to just one score in the final quarter – another tally from Parker three minutes in – Hartford rallied for six-unanswered goals during that span to extend its advantage to 16-4 in the final minute. Six different Hawks accounted for those goals to highlight that stretch.

 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Hartford's 12-goal win marked the program's largest margin of victory since the 2012 campaign, when it coasted to a 24-4 home win over Wagner (March 24).
• Defensively, the four goals conceded to the Japsers are the fewest in a single game since March 12, 2014, when the Hawks gave up three in a 6-3 victory over Quinnipiac.
• Jinks recorded a new career high in scoring with eight points, also tallying personal-best numbers in goals (4) and assists (4).
• The eight points delivered by Jinks marks the most in a single game for the Hawks since Kevin O'Shea recorded 10 in a win over Richmond in 2014.
• Jinks and Feiner each improve their hat trick totals to two after Saturday's win.
• Myles Horn, a freshman, scored his first career goal in the contest while Brown (2) and sophomore Rion Davison (1), who each missed the first three games of the season with injuries, recorded goals in their debuts.
• At the X, Protesto was unstoppable. He won 14-of-16 duels and collected five ground balls as Hartford held a 21-3 advantage in the circle.
• Andrews contributed a 6-for-7 effort at the X on the afternoon.
• In 57:39 between the pipes, Vanderford registered six saves on 10 shots on goal to earn the win, four of which came in the scoreless second quarter.
• Defensively, Elkinson recorded one caused turnover and corralled a team-best seven ground balls.
• As a team, Hartford held commanding advantages in shots (57-20), shots on goal (35-10) and ground balls (45-23).

 
NEXT ON TAP:
After spending the last two games on the road, Hartford returns home to host another MAAC opponent in Quinnipiac on Saturday, March 12. Opening faceoff between the Hawks and Bobcats is slated for 1 p.m. from Al-Marzook Field at Alumni Stadium. Hartford will be looking to extend its win streak against Quinnipiac to six games.