ONEONTA, N.Y. -- The Oneonta men's lacrosse team took the Battle of the Hills with a 13-7 victory at Hartwick, Thursday afternoon. Junior
Jamie O'Neil (Bath, N.Y./Haverling) tied his career-high nine points with four goals, five assists and recorded his 100th collegiate goal in the victory. Senior
Matthew Krieg (Port Jefferson Station/Comsewogue) and sophomore
Thomas Hnis (Smithtown, N.Y./Kings Park) each finished with three points as the Red Dragons improved to 1-2 on the season and the Hawks moved to 1-2 overall.
Oneonta broke out to a 4-0 lead by the end of the first period. Hnis took his defender one on one and spun past him for a goal between the keeper's legs in the first minute of play. O'Neil scored the other three goals for the Red Dragons in the period and earned his hat trick with a behind the head shot off a pass from Hnis.
Senior
Vincent Herbstman (Port Jefferson Station/Comsewogue) drove into the offensive zone with the ball and scored his first goal of the season to make it 5-1 at 12:04 in the second. The Hawks got to within two, however the Red Dragons closed out the half with a pair of man-up goals to make it 7-3. O'Neil was at the top of the zone and found Krieg down low for the first goal, then he dished it to freshman
Tim Navin () for his first collegiate goal and gave Oneonta the four-goal lead heading into halftime.
After Hnis scored his second of the game at the start of the third period, junior
Sergio Ilario (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) recorded his first career goal as a Red Dragon to put the team ahead 9-3 at 12:15. The Hawks found the back of the net twice to enter the fourth quarter trailing 9-5.
Senior
Vincent Tirino (Port Jefferson Station/Comsewogue) scored a man-up goal 15 seconds into the final period to put Oneonta up 10-5. Following a Hartwick goal, Oneonta scored twice in less than a minute for a 12-6 lead with 10:00 to play. Senior
Stephen Barikyan (Tappan/Tappan Zee) won a faceoff then brought the ball into the zone and took a shot that rolled past the Hawks' goalie, then junior
Anthony Munro (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) received a pass from Krieg and fired one into the top of the net for the six-goal advantage. The Red Dragons scored the final goal of the game with 2:09 left when Krieg scooped up a ground ball off a Hawks failed clear attempt and found an open O'Neil for his 100th collegiate goal.
Hnis finished with two goals and an assist, while Krieg had a goal with two assists. Freshman
Mark Restivo (Merrick, N.Y./Sanford H. Calhoun) finished with 13 saves for a .650 save percentage and collected three ground balls, and Kaiden Johnson had 12 saves for the Hawks. Barikyan went 14-for-20 in faceoffs and picked up 11 ground balls with a goal. Senior
Matthew Mangels (St. James/Smithtown East) caused three turnovers and recorded three ground balls.
Hartwick outshot Oneonta 42-38, however Oneonta had a 25-20 edge in shots on goal and a 35-27 ground ball advantage. The Red Dragons were 3-for-5 in extra man opportunities, and the Hawks were 0-for-3.
Oneonta is back in action on Saturday, March 8, for a road game against Stevens Institute at 1 pm.
