Elmira, NY -- The Elmira College men's lacrosse team scored five goals in the game's first 16 minutes, but an 18-minute scoring drought turned the tables as visiting Hartwick College took down the Soaring Eagles, 14-9.
TJ Leach '16 and
Skyler Pradelski '15 each tallied hat tricks in the defeat.
After the six goals from Leach and Pradelski, EC's
Anthony LaRusso '17,
Eric Hallman '15, and
Nick Brown '15 rounded out the scoring with one goal apiece.
John Bigelow '16 and
AJ Bourdon '16 held down the Purple and Gold defense, each causing two turnovers with Bigelow leading the team with seven groundballs.
EC got off to a quick start, getting unassisted goals from Pradelski and Leach to take the 2-0 lead. Hartwick, however, would take advantage of the faceoff circle to strike back, scoring three goals over the next four minutes to take a one-goal advantage. The Hawks continued to apply pressure, getting another two shots on target, but
Wyatt Katsos'17 stopped them both for two of his 16 saves. The second save led to a run out by Brown who raced past several Hartwick players and fired a shot past the Hawks' goaltender, making it 3-3.
The teams entered the second quarter tied at 3-3, but Pradelski changed that less than a minute into the second quarter with his second score of the day. That, however, would be EC's final goal of the half as they would be held scoreless for the final 14:03 of the second quarter. Hartwick would get three shots past Katsos to take a 6-4 lead into the break.
Both Hartwick and EC traded goals throughout the third quarter. Hallman's score, which came with 32 seconds left in the period made it a two-goal game yet again and looked to swing the momentum in EC's favor. The Hawks had other ideas as they won the faceoff and worked the ball downfield, netting their 10th score with just one second left on the clock.
The Hawks used that last-second score to add on four additional goals in the fourth quarter before two goals in the final minute from Leach and LaRusso brought it to a 14-9 finish.
EC returns to action on Wednesday, April 15th when they travel to take on St. John Fisher College at 4:00 p.m.
