DUDLEY, Mass. - The University of Hartford men's lacrosse team extended their winning streak to now three claiming a 15-5 victory over Conference of New England (CNE) opponent Nichols College this Wednesday in a late-night match-up.

Rapid Recap:

• The Bison struck first in this match as Jonah Libby put the first point in the back of the net in the opening four minutes. The two teams battled in the middle of the field trading turnovers and failed clear attempts as they moved through the first. Sophomore Nick Forgione (Denville, N.J.) responded for the Hawks as he picked up a bobbled save by the Bison's keep Brady Morgan, junior Aidan Kemp (South Orange, N.J.) forced this error and Forgione capitalized off of their mistake, now 1-1 with 8:21 remaining. The Hawks then danced around the Bison's defense to take the lead and add their second goal at 6:25 Forgione again finding space in the back of the net, sophomore Ethan Hunt (Skaneateles, N.Y.) lobbed up the pass for an assist to Forgione. Shortly after, Hunt capitalized on a man-up opportunity and nabbed a goal of his own to continue the Hawks scoring spree, 3-1 with 5:35 left. The Bison's Dylan DeRubeis brought down the Hawks lead to just one with a swift goal by the defense, 3-2. In the final seconds, sophomore Aidan Ezra (New Milford, Conn.) buried a deep shot off of a feed from sophomore Michael Novotny (Cornwall, N.Y.). The Hawks held their lead heading into the second quarter 4-2.
• The Hawks found their rhythm in this second quarter, set up clean pieces and found the back of the net with finesse. The Hawks scored a six point-run over the Bison in this quarter alone. Sophomore Maxton McPhee caught a perfect pass from Kemp in the face of the Bison keep and placed the first goal in the left high corner to bring the Hawks to 5-2. Next to score was freshman Gavin Pelletier (Southington, Conn.) at 7:10 as he drills the ball into the back of the  net to extend their lead to 6-2. In the next 60 seconds Ezra adds another point onto his score sheet for this match-up receiving a clean pass from Novotny to slam a powerful shot into the net. Kemp then capitalized on another man-up opportunity for the Hawks as the Bison were penalized with unnecessary roughness with 5:20 remaining, Hawks continued to push their lead to now 8-2. Pelletier and Hunt closed out the second quarter with two more impressive goals overcoming the Bison's defense and maintaining control throughout the field.
• Pelletier opened up the scoring for the Hawks converting on a man-up opportunity in the first 36 seconds. The Hawks maintained pressure in the Bison's half, continuing to challenge their defense. The Bison were penalized once again at 10:53 for a cross-checking penalty, this opened up the field and allowed Novotny to capitalize off of a good feed by Kemp, 12-2. Novotny remained active; putting pieces together in this quarter, generating multiple scoring opportunities. Nichols answered back mid-way through the third when Conor Doherty found the back of the net, trimming down the deficit to now 12-3. Carter Renaud stepped into goalie position for Nichols making key saves for the team to limit the Hawks' threatening offense. 
• The Bison started the fourth quarter with fire knowing they had to be aggressive to attempt at stealing this win away from the Hawks. John Caseta for Nichols drilled a shot early in the opening 30 seconds but goalie sophomore CJ Ledwick (Falmouth, Mass.) for the Hawks remained solid in net denying Caseta's attempt. At 12:51 Kemp broke through again to extend the lead to 13-3, Forgione forced a turnover to set up this sequence for Kemp. The Bison were not frazzled and in the next two minutes Conor Doherty yet again answered back with a goal of his own to cut it to 13-4. Freshman Shaun Wright got in on the scoring action for the Hawks drilling one into the back of the net, padding their lead to ten points. Penalties continued to fly for both teams and now the Bison's Jack Ellis capitalized on a man-up opportunity of their own, 14-5 with six minutes remaining in this face-off. In the final minutes junior Eric Kelly (Stamford, Conn.) buried it bottom shelf face-to-face with the Bison goalie to close out this game 15-5. Despite the Bison winning face-offs and maintaining offensive zone minutes they were unable to build a comeback over the Hawks' dominating performance on this late Wednesday evening.

Post Game Press:
"Tonight was a great team win," said sophomore Aidan Ezra (New Milford, Conn.), "we all worked together and it really showed. The defense held it down and we were super strong all around. On offense were were all up on the same page and didn't let up, it was a great team win!"

Inside The Numbers:

• Ezra led the Hawks this evening racking up five points with two goals and three assists. Kemp was just behind with seven points including two goals and two assists. Pelletier led in goals scored in this match, marking a new season and career high for the freshman.
• In net for the Hawks, Ledwick had 12 saves tallying a .750 save percentage, junior Cole Zering (New Fairfield, Conn.) put up two saves for the Hawks tonight.
• At the face off circle sophomore Ben Costanzo (Chester, Conn.) went 14-17 over the Bison along with five ground balls.

Up Next:
The Hawks will next host the University of New England this Saturday April 12th at 3:00 p.m.

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