POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – The University of Hartford men's lacrosse team fell to 0-2 on the season on Wednesday night falling in overtime to Vassar College by a 12-11 final. 
 
Rapid Recap:

• The Hawks came out flying in the early going with sophomore Nick Forgione (Denville, N.J.), sophomore Michael Novotny (Cornwall, N.Y.) and graduate student Jake Ojert (Doylestown, Pa.) all finishing home goals as Hartford produced a 3-0 lead after 10 minutes. The Brewers struggled to get by sophomore CJ Ledwick (Falmouth, Mass.) who made two key saves to keep the Hawks up 3-0. Vassar would finally get on the board with 42 seconds left on the clock as Hartford led 3-1 after 15 minutes. 
• The Brewers used the momentum gained at the end of the first quarter to their advantage finding the back of the cage three times in the next five minutes to jump ahead 4-3. Forgione stopped the run with his second goal of the day assisted by Ojert. Vassar would pick the lead back up 15 seconds later to take the 5-4 advantage into the break. 
• At the start of the second half freshman Shaun Wright (Frederick, Md.) picked up his first collegiate strike on an assist by senior Ryan Varano (Avon, Conn.) as the game was evened again at 5-5. The Brewers took momentum back over the next seven minutes scoring three-straight to gain a 8-5 lead over the Hawks. Varano would find Novotny for his second goal of the game to cut the deficit to 8-6 with 3:17 to play in the third quarter. Ojert would follow it up to trim the lead to just a single goal, but the final two minutes belonged to Vassar who struck twice to lead 10-7 with the fourth quarter ahead. 
• Wright bested the keeper to open the fourth quarter scoring. The Brewers answered once more, but the score was quickly erased as Novotny finished home the hat-trick. Forgione followed with his own hat-trick to bring the Hawks within one score with 7:27 to play. Junior Cole Zering (New Fairfield, Conn.) stopped three critical shots down the stretch as the Hawks still trailed by a single goal with under two minutes to play. Hartford would get the tying goal with 1:10 to play as Novotny ripped one past the keeper. Varano had the final chance with seven seconds, but the shot was blocked. 
• In overtime the Brewers would earn the opening face off holding possession and finally netting the game-winner to pick up the 12-11 win. 

Inside The Numbers:

• Novotny continues to impress scoring another four goals for the Hawks to lead the point scorers. Forgione registered three strikes, while Ojert tallied two goals an assist and two grounders. Wright added two goals.
• Varano and sophomore Aidan Ezra (New Milford, Conn.) led the passing attack with two assists a piece. 
• Junior Tim Votta (East Greenwich, R.I.) and sophomore Trent Beggs (Somers, Conn.) led the defense for the Hawks each causing two turnovers.
• Sophomore specialist Ben Costanzo (Chester, Conn.) finished 12-25 from the face-off dot. 
• In the cage Ledwick made 11 saves in 45 minutes, before being relieved by Zering who picks up the loss after making five stops. 
• Shane O'Hara and Gavin Arcuri led the Brewers each tallying five points as O'Hara ended with three goals and two helpers and Arcuri scored once and dished out four assists. 
• Vassar out shot Hartford 44-25 in the win.

Up Next:
Hartford will travel to Boston to take on UMass Boston on Saturday with a 1:00 PM start. 

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