ALFRED, NY – The Alfred University men's lacrosse took care of visiting Hartwick College 11-7 Saturday afternoon at Yunevich Stadium.
 
The Saxons (6-4, 2-0 Empire 8) were led by senior Jake Lynch (Whitney Point, NY/Whitney Point) as he finished with six points (three goals, three assists) in the conference match-up. Junior Joe Fornataro (Rochester, NY/Greece Athena) as he had five points (three goals, two assists) while first-year Cale Donegan (Corning, NY/Corning-Painted Post) added four points (three goals, one assists. Alfred also got goals from junior Anthony Ricottilli (Cortland, NY/Cortland) and first-year Joey Carra III (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder). Senior David LaSpina (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder) helped direct the offense, as he finished with two assists.
 
The Saxons found themselves down early in the first as the Hawks jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Fornataro was able to get on the board at the 5:03 mark of the first. Alfred was able to tie the game at 3-3 with goals coming from Lynch and Carra III after the first quarter. Hartwick was able to regain the lead at the 14:12 mark of the second as Brett Maguire was able to get the ball in the back of the net. Donegan tied thing up with his goal with 11:47 left before halftime. Fornataro netted his second goal with the man-up opportunity to give Alfred a 5-4 lead. Alfred was able to take a 6-5 lead into halftime.
 
Alfred was able to gain a three-goal lead in the third as Ricottilli got in the scoring column. The Hawk didn't go away quietly as they scored two straight to make it 8-7 with 3:31 left in the third. The Saxons were able to put the game on ice, as they outscored Hartwick 2-0 in the final frame.
 
"We tried to push the ball a little bit today," Head Coach Jason Lockner said. "Faceoffs were big for us with [Garrette] Briggs dominating for us and that got us the possessions we needed. We've also been battling the injury bug and we had some guys back today so that helped us be a little more consistent and the guys got it done."
 
Alfred was led defensively by sophomore midfielder Garrette Briggs (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) with 11 groundballs while sophomore defender Shane Weber (Hull, MA/Hull) added six groundballs. Junior attack Kyle Landrigan (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua) led the way in caused turnovers with four. Five Saxons tied for second on the team with three groundballs.


"Our defense played really well as Drew [Gardner] was outstanding for us in goal today. His clears and his saves, especially near the end when they were taking all of those shots and he came through like a senior leader that he is," Coach Lockner said. "It was also having Cale [Donegan] back as he was a big difference in our game today."
 
Briggs had another stellar game in the face-off circle, winning 16-of-21 face-offs.
 
Senior goalkeeper Drew Gardner (Whitney Point, NY/Whitney Point) earned the win in net, making eight saves.
 
The Saxons are off until next Saturday, April 7, as they host St. John Fisher on Senior Day.