THE BASICS:
 
RESULT: UMass Lowell 12, Hartford 11
RECORDS: Hartford (4-7, 1-3 AE); UMass Lowell (3-11, 1-4 AE)
LOCATION: Al-Marzook Field at Alumni Stadium (West Hartford, Conn.)
 
THE LEAD:
Visiting UMass Lowell escaped Al-Marzook Field with a 12-11 victory against the University of Hartford men's lacrosse team on Saturday afternoon. Brandon Beland broke open the game's seventh tie with less than two minutes remaining, ending a seven-game skid for the River Hawks.

Juniors Griffin Feiner and Justin Huggins each netted four goals to pace the Hawks' offense, as the duo finished with six and five points, respectively. Senior Jaedon Henderson also added five points in the losing effort behind two goals and three assists. The Hawks' offense was also sparked by an outstanding performance by junior faceoff specialist Dylan Protesto, who won a career-high 22 faceoffs in 27 attempts.
 
Four players registered two goals for the River Hawks as Nicholas Pino, Jon Phillips and Austin Lane each finished with three points.
 
THE TURNING POINT:
With the game tied at 11-11 heading into the final two minutes of regulation, a Hawks' turnover on a clear attempt led to the go-ahead tally for UMass Lowell 16 seconds later. Sean Tyrrell fed Beland for the game-winning goal with 1:41 remaining. Despite winning the ensuing faceoff, Hartford was unable to convert on its final two attempts, allowing UMass Lowell to come away with its first win in the series, which began in 2015.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• UMass Lowell came out of the gates hot, scoring four of the first five goals of the game to take the three-goal advantage with 11:51 left in the first quarter. Pino struck twice during that stretch, which also featured goals from Tyrrell and Keenan Koswin.
• But Hartford answered back by dropping a barrage of goals on the UMass Lowell defense during the final 11 minutes of the half. Scoring five of the last six goals of the quarter, the Hawks took their first lead of the game – a 6-5 edge – with 20 seconds remaining before halftime. Huggins, who scored twice during that stretch, leveled the score for the first time since five minutes into the game with 54 seconds left before senior Alec Brown provided his team with the edge heading into the break.
• The offense continued to roll for Hartford after halftime, as Huggins extended the lead to three goals (8-5) with a pair of strikes at the 14:05 and 12:58 marks. But momentum quickly shifted, and the River Hawks went off for three-unanswered goals over the next five and a half minutes to tie things up at 8-8 with 5:26 remaining in the third.
• Despite Henderson putting the Hawks up by a goal before the end of the third, the River Hawks opened up the scoring in the final quarter by delivering back-to-back goals within a 30-second stretch to go up, 10-9, with 12:14 to go. Down the stretch, Hartford clawed back from a pair of single goal deficits to tie up the game, but was unable to reclaim its lead for the remainder of the contest.

• In addition to his dominant effort at the X, Protesto also finished the game with 12 ground balls. The Hawks controlled that category with a 46-28 advantage.
• Feiner and Henderson each added five ground balls, hitting career-best marks in the category.
• The Hawks also held commanding advantages in shots (55-33) and shots on goal (28-21).
• Hartford goalie Ryan Vanderford came up with nine saves for the Hawks, while his counterpart, Grant Lardieri, registered a game-best 17 stops.

 
NEXT ON TAP:
Hartford concludes the non-conference portion of its 2017 regular-season schedule on Tuesday, April 18, hosting in-state foe Sacred Heart under the lights of Al-Marzook Field. The clash will be broadcast live on ESPN3 at 7 p.m.