ALBANY, N.Y. — The Hawks opened up their 2021 season with a 2-0 victory over UAlbany on Friday afternoon. Junior Nick Benjamin and freshman Darío Cavada scored the Hawks goals on the afternoon, while freshman Rotem Fadida earned the shutout in his collegiate debut. Hartford improved to 1-0 overall and 1-0 in conference play while UAlbany dropped to 0-2-1 overall and 0-2 in the conference.
 
UALBANY 0, HARTFORD 2
The opening 10 minutes of the game was a battle of the midfield until UAlbany earned a free kick, which Rotem Fadida brilliantly saved. Junior Nyrik Antoine would try his luck in the 25th minute, but his shot was easily saved by the UAlbany goalkeeper. The Great Danes would break quickly following, Antoine's strike, but Fadida would again come up big and deny UAlbany any chance of opening up the scoring. The Great Danes would have one final chance at the end of the half to break the dead-lock but Fadida denied Christian Campagna's effort as they two sides entered the half scoreless. Fadida would tally four saves in the opening half.
 
The second half would start off quiet until the Hawks broke the deadlock in the 62nd minute. After earning a corner, Tomer Drimmer played the ball short to Cavada, who whipped in a cross that left Benjamin with an easy tap-in. It wouldn't take the Hawks long to double their advantage as they found the back of the net, eight minutes later. This time it was Cavada who got on the end of a loose ball and rifled his strike into the bottom left corner, doubling the Hawks advantage. Hartford would go down to 10 men as Addrian Knights-Browne was shown a red card in the 85th minute, but the Hawks held on, earning their first victory and keeping their first shutout of the season.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE & HARTFORD NOTES
·       Cavada tallied his first career goal and assist on the afternoon
·       Fadida finished with six saves on 15 shots faced to earn his first career shutout
·       Benjamin netted his fourth career goal with his strike
·       The Great Danes held a slim 16-15 advantage in shots and a 5-3 lead in corner kicks
·       Junior Sergi Martinez led the offensive effort with four shots on the afternoon
·       Hartford has now defeated the Great Danes for the third season in a row
 
NEXT ON TAP
 The Hawks make their debut in West Hartford for a two-game homestand, starting with a matchup against Binghamton next Friday (March 12). Kickoff from Al-Marzook Field against the Bearcats is set for 3 p.m.

 
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