THE BASICS:
 
RESULT:  Bryant 17, Hartford 11
RECORDS: Hartford (0-2); Bryant (2-2)
LOCATION: Bulldog Stadium (Smithfield, R.I.)
 
THE LEAD:
The University of Hartford men's lacrosse team battled back from a five-goal deficit, but the Hawks were unable to finish off the comeback as they fell, 17-11, at Bryant on Saturday afternoon. The Hawks struggled to convert down the stretch, as the Bulldogs scored the last six goal of the game to come away with the win.

Five players reached the scoring column for the Hawks, who were led by four goals apiece from senior Alec Brown and junior Justin Huggins. Tucker James netted a game-high six goals for Bryant, adding three assists to lead all scorers with nine points, while Kyle Cornell and Cam Ziegler each tallied three goals.
 
THE TURNING POINT:
The Hawks stormed back from a 10-5 deficit, pulling within four at the break before opening up the second half with a 4-1 run to tie up the game at 11-all. The Bulldogs took over from there, though, stringing together six unanswered scores to end the game. Ziegler had a hand in four of the Bulldogs' goal during that decisive stretch, scoring three times while assisting on one other.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• With Tom Kenny scoring just 50 seconds in, Bryant wasted little time to take the lead. But the Hawks rallied for two straight, snagging a 2-1 advantage behind Huggins' first goal of the afternoon.
• Seven first-quarter turnovers coupled with a pair of penalties three minutes apart proved to be costly for Hartford. The Bulldogs converted on both extra-man opportunities and used a 3-0 run to take a 4-2 lead with 5:10 remaining in the first.
• A Doug Biondi goal in the final minutes of the first trimmed the Hawks' deficit to one, but Bryant opened the second with some momentum, scoring five of the first six goals of the stanza. Cornell and Tucker each contributed two scores to that rally, with Tucker's second goal of that stretch making it a 9-4 Bryant lead with 5:26 left before halftime.
• A Trevor O'Brien goal with one second remaining in the half provided the Hawks with some momentum heading into the third. Hartford came out of the halftime break on a roll, surging for a 5-1 rally to tie up the game for the first time since midway through the first quarter. Brown's second goal of that spurt – an unassisted marker – made it 11-11 with 3:33 left in the third.
• The remainder of the game was all Bryant, though. The Bulldogs ended the game with a 6-0 run, scoring the final two goals of the third before padding the lead with four-unanswered in the fourth quarter.

 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Assisting on Brown's first of two third-quarter scores, Jaedon Henderson became the 19th 100-point scorer in program history, and the first since Kevin O'Shea accomplished the feat in 2015.
• Huggins added one assist to his count to lead the Hawks with five points.
• Junior Dylan Protesto had a spectacular outing in the faceoff circle, winning 18-of-23 duels while collecting a game-best 12 ground balls. Overall, the Hawks held the edge at the X, going 23-of-31.
• Turnovers proved to be the Achilles' heel for Hartford, as the Hawks combined for 17 miscues. Bryant committed just eight turnovers in the contest.
• Hartford edged Bryant in shots (37-31) and ground balls (35-25), but went just 1-of-4 in extra-man opportunities. The Bulldogs converted on each of their man-up opportunities.

 
NEXT ON TAP:
Hartford returns home for two games next week, beginning with a non-conference clash against Manhattan on Tuesday, Feb. 28. The Jaspers bring a 1-2 record into the contest, most recently defeating Wagner in triple overtime (14-13) before suffering an 18-8 setback to Robert Morris on Saturday. The Hawks and Jaspers are set for a 3 p.m. opening faceoff on AmericaEast.TV.