April 26, 2003

Final Stats

WEST HARTFORD, CT - The University of Hartford lacrosse team suffered its only America East loss of the season Saturday afternoon against Stony Brook, 6-5, at a rain-soaked Al-Marzook Field.

Hartford, which had already clinched a share of the conference regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the America East Lacrosse Championship, dropped to 8-7 overall and 4-1 in the conference. Stony Brook improved to 5-9 overall and 3-2 in the conference. The Seawolves will be the No. 3 seed in the tournament and will play at No. 2 Albany.

Stony Brook freshman Jason Cappadoro led the way with three goals, including the game-winner with 2:01 to play to put the Seawolves up 6-5. Hartford senior Travis Eckler (Endicott, NY) also had three goals in the losing effort.

The Seawolves led 2-0 after a first quarter goal by Cappadoro and a score by George LaFlare with 8:53 to go in the first half. The Hawks cut the lead in half before the break on Eckler's first goal off a feed from senior Tom Fallica (Smithtown, NY).

Stony Brook took a 3-1 lead early in the third quarter on a goal by Kevin Shea, but Hartford freshman Jeremy Gage (Dix Hills, NY) answered by storming right down the middle of the field at the 11:01 mark for his first goal of the season. Cappadoro then put the Seawolves up 4-2 with a score before Hartford rallied with the final two goals of the third quarter from Eckler and freshman Garett Kikot (Toronto, Ontario) to tie the score at 4-4.

Neither team scored until the final three minutes of the game, though the Hawks had a pair of good chances with just under five minutes to play. The first saw a wide-open shot from senior Chris Sauro hit off the post, while the second saw an up-close attempt from Sauro saved by Seawolves' goalkeeper Errol Wilson.

Stony Brook took a 5-4 lead with 2:57 to play behind a goal from Eric Hatkewitz. Eckler came right back with his third goal 30 seconds later to tie the game again, setting the stage for Cappadoro's game-winning goal.

Hartford goalkeeper Rorke Greene (Cape Elizabeth, ME) made 15 saves against 33 Stony Brook shots. Wilson ended the day with 12 saves-half of which came in the final quarter-against 24 Hartford shots.

             1 2 3 4   Final
Stony Brook  1 1 2 2     6
Hartford     0 1 3 1     5

Scoring: Stony Brook (Goals-Assists): Jason Coppadoro (3-1), George LaFlare (1-2), Kevin Shea (1-1), Eric Hatkewitz (1-0) Hartford (Goals-Assists): Travis Eckler (3-1), Jeremy Gage (1-0), Garett Kikot (1-0), Tom Fallica (0-1), B.J. Lavoie (0-1)

Goalies: Stony Brook - Errol Wilson (60:00, 5 GA, 12 saves) Hartford - Rorke Greene (60:00, 6 GA, 15 saves)