ONEONTA, N.Y. -- The SUNY Oneonta men's lacrosse team had a strong second half to outscore Hartwick, 9-4, and defeat the Hawks, 16-9, Thursday afternoon in the Battle of the Hills. Freshman
Thomas Hnis (Smithtown, N.Y./Kings Park) scored six goals, tied for 12th-most in a game in program history, while seniors
Eric Nicholson (Nesconset, N.Y./Smithtown East) and
Matthew Krieg (Port Jefferson Station/Comsewogue) both recorded two goals and four assists. The Red Dragons improved to 3-1 on the season and the Hawks dropped to 1-2.
Krieg netted the first goal at 13:53 before Hartwick took a 2-1 edge at 10:24. Oneonta scored three goals within 48 seconds to go up 4-2 at 7:30. Nicholson passed it back and forth with Krieg before he fired in the first, senior
Evan Kelly (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) fed it to Kreig for the second, and Hnis made his first off a quick pass from Nicholson. The Red Dragons added one more after Nicholson backed down his defender and scored off a diving shot, however the Hawks scored two for a 5-4 game entering the second.
Garrett Frost tied the game at five for Hartwick at 9:52 in the second, but Oneonta tallied two to go up 7-5 at halftime. Hnis beat his defender to score his second off a driving-bounce shot, then senior
Jesse AlfanoStJohn (Westhampton Beach/Westhampton Beach) caused a turnover in the Red Dragons defensive zone and went coast to coast, beating Hawks' goalie, Chris Andersen, top shelf for the two-goal lead.
Hartwick knotted the game, 7-7, at 10:45 in the third, however Oneonta went on a run and scored six unanswered to go ahead 13-7 with 12:33 left in the game. During the stretch, Hnis recorded the first two, Kelly scored off a pass from junior
Vincent Tirino (Port Jefferson Station/Comsewogue), and junior
Gavin Teiner (Northport/Northport) was about to pass the ball out to reset the offense, but realized he had an open shot on net and zipped it past Andersen for his first collegiate goal. Senior
Andrew Guinto (Syracuse/West Genesee) scored the first goal in the fourth quarter before Hnis made it a six-goal game.
Following a goal from the Hawk's Seth Bello, the Red Dragons scored three more, all off man-up opportunities, to go up 16-8 with 3:30 to go. Krieg assisted Hnis and Kelly on the first two goals, then sophomore
Jamie O'Neil (Bath, N.Y./Haverling) wrapped around the net and received a pass from Nicholson for the final Oneonta goal. Frost converted the last score of the game with 1:35 to play.
Kelly finished with two goals and two assists for the Red Dragons. AlfanoStJohn netted one goal, caused two turnovers and picked up six ground balls, while senior
Ryan Nicholson (Smithtown/Smithtown East) caused three turnovers and recorded three groundballs. Senior
Harrison Boukas (North Massapequa/Plainegde) made 14 saves.
As a team Oneonta was 23-for-28 on faceoffs. Junior
Stephen Barikyan (Tappan/Tappan Zee) was 16-for-20, tied for the 14th-most in a single game in program history, with eight ground balls, and senior
Stephen Sommo (Floral Park/Floral Park) went 7-for-7 on faceoffs with six ground balls.
Frost ended with three goals for Hartwick, Bello scored two, and Andersen finished with 11 saves.
Oneonta outshot Hartwick 42-37, 27-23 on net, and had a 43-38 advantage on ground balls.
The Red Dragons are back in action on Saturday, March 9, for a road match against No. 17-ranked Stevens at 4 pm.
