032523CamJonesFaceoff
Hartford Athletics Communications
10
Winner Hartford HARTFORD 3-0
7
St. Joseph (Conn.) USJ 5-4
Winner
Hartford HARTFORD
3-0
10
Final
7
St. Joseph (Conn.) USJ
5-4
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Hartford HARTFORD 2 3 2 3 10
St. Joseph (Conn.) USJ 2 4 1 0 7

Game Recap: Men's Lacrosse |

Dominant second half leads to win over rival USJ

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The University of Hartford was stout defensively in the second half in posting the road victory against the University of Saint Joseph.

Hartford would outscore USJ 8-3 the rest of the way, including allowing one goal over the final 30 minutes, in securing the 10-7 win Saturday at the USJ Lacrosse Field. 

Freshman, and leading scorer, Eric Kelly to find the back of the net with regularity as scored a team-high five goals. 

Freshman keeper Andrew Leibold entered the game at halftime and proceeded to help shut down the USJ offense to earn his first victory of the year. He stopped eight of the nine second-half shots he faced. It was in contrast to the first half in which the Blue Jays scored on six of their 11 shots.

Saint Joseph came out swinging scoring the first two goals of the game. 

During a Hartford timeout, head coach Ryan Martin must have unlocked the offensive code. Within the next three minutes, the Hawks had found the back of the net twice – with Griffin Weller and Aidan Kemp scoring - to pull even. 

Just like the first quarter, the Blue Jays took a two-goal lead by scoring the first two goals of the quarter. And just like the first quarter, Hartford had an answer in short order. The Hawks scored three of the next four goals in a three-minute span. They traded goals initially, and then, Hartford put back-to-back tallies on the board for the game's second tie. Saint Joseph scored with less than a minute to go to take the lead into the break. 

Five minutes into the third quarter, John Furino and Weller combined to bring the score even, and then Weller combined with Kelly to give Hartford its first lead of the game. Both scores came in man-up opportunities as the Hawks were just 3-of-8 with the advantage. 

USJ, for the first time, had to play from behind and scored with 12 seconds remaining in the third quarter. 

But, Hartford simply owned the fourth quarter as Furino scored on an unassisted goal, and then Kelly put the game away with back-to-back goals. 

INSIDE THE BOX & NOTES
  • Faceoff specialist Cam Jones won 15 of 21 faceoffs. 
  • The rivalry game featured 21 infractions for 21:30. 
  • Weller continues to be the top distributor for the Hawks, dishing out four assists to go along with a pair of goals.
  • Hartford finished with 44 shots, 25 of which were on goal, while USJ had 37 shots with 20 on goal. 
  • The best start since the 2001 Hawks opened the season with four consecutive victories. 
NEXT ON TAP
Hartford (3-0) travels to Gordon 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

 
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