West Hartford, Conn. -- The University of Hartford men's soccer team defeated Albertus Magnus College on Wednesday evening with a 2-1 thrilling win.

Rapid Recap

• The Hawks held strong on defense early with shots by the Falcons, in the fourth minute of the match freshman Christian Vitti (Stamford, Conn.) made a diving save to kick off his collegiate debut. Within the next few minutes, Falcons were given a penalty kick in the ninth minute. Aiden Coelho buried the ball in the back of the net with Vitti just getting his fingers to it. Score stood at 1-0 as the Hawks move into the 13th minute. Teams continued to battle in the first half, trading possession in the middle of the field. Senior Devan Jessop (Ashaway, R.I.) took a strong shot to the bottom right of the goal that was blocked by Falcon goalkeeper David Lucero. The Hawks continued to stay aggressive in the opponents half with consistent shots to challenge the keep. Senior Kellijah Morgan beat the Falcons goalkeeper in the 39th minute with crafty foot skills and drilled a shot to the goal line. The ball was cleared by Falcons defenders. This last attempt lead the Hawks heading into half-time trailing 1-0.
• Morgan started the second half with a strong drive down the right flank taking on multiple defenders. Morgan found the head of graduate student Alex Quinones (Bedford, N.H.), Quinones placed the ball in the top right corner to put the Hawks back into the game with score standing at 1-1 in the 47th minute. The Hawks did not allow the Falcons to answer, Morgan put away the second goal of the night off of a through ball from sophomore Ron Palillo (Stony Brook, N.Y.). Morgan just had the goalkeeper to beat and slipped the ball into the net to bring the Hawks to a lead of 2-1 heading into the 51st minute. Vitti was kept busy in the second half of his collegiate debut as he was tested with strong shots from the Falcons. The Hawks did not allow the Falcons to answer and the score stood at 2-1

Post Game Press

"We've been working extremely hard the past couple of weeks", said graduate student Alex Quinones (Bedford, N.H.). "especially Trey Sadler who got hurt earlier in the half, we just wanted to work really hard for him. Trey and I have playing together for five years, all the goals matter but this one meant a lot to me."

Inside the Numbers:

• Quinones scored his first goal of the 2024 season after leading the team in 2023 with 4 goals.
• Morgan led the Hawks in points with an assist and a goal to the lead the team to a win.
• Vitti made his collegiate debut with four saves in net to earn his first collegiate victory
• The Falcons Aiden Coelho scored his first goal of the 2024 season.
• The Falcons out shot the Hawks 11-9 in this evening's game with Hartford owning a 7-5 on target differential.

Up Next:
The Hawks go on the road to take on Framingham State University on September 14th with an 11:00 a.m. start.

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