Nwakamma 25 points gave him a career high and helped Hartford to another win. Courtesy of HartfordHawks.com

An in form junior Mark Nwakamma has been a big help for the Hawks three back-to-back wins. Coming off a surprising knee injury, Nwakamma did not need a buffer period, last Wednesday he scored 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field to pace five double-figure Hartford scorers at Maine.

The Hawks put up a season-high 91 points and shot a season-best 58.5 percent en route to a 13-point defeat of the Black Bears.

The junior forward would add UNH to the list of victims as he made 10 of his 19 shots to rack up 25 points, which was a career-high.

With the win the Hawks improve to 12-14 overall and 6-4 in conference action while Maine dips to 5-19 with a 3-9 league record.

Burying 13-of-24 shots from long range, Hartford shot a season-high 58.5 percent from the field to reach the 90-point mark for the second time this year.

Five Hawks shot better than 50.0 percent and a season-best 21 assists were handed out as a balanced scoring attack led the team to its best offensive output all season.

Hartford has had five or more players reach double figures in a single game three times this season.

Despite foul trouble, Nwakamma scored 15 points while classmates Wes Cole and Nate Sikma added 12 and 10 points, respectively, to round out the Hawks’ top-scorers. Nwakamma, who had just two points in the first, picked up his fourth foul with 16:32 left in the game, but still managed to score 11 more from that point on.

Chipping in with six points was Corban Wroe, who handed out a game and career-best six assists to just one turnover in the outing.

Trailing by as much as five points midway through the opening stanza, Hartford took control and blew the Black Bears away before the half was over using a pair of double-digit runs. Momentum began to swing when Sikma, who scored all 10 of his points in the first, netted the first eight of a 10-0 run to push the Hawks ahead, 20-15, with 8:10 on the clock.

Maine trimmed that five-point lead down to a basket, scoring on a Christian Ejiga free throw and a Troy Reid-Knight layup, but the home team wouldn’t come any closer for the remainder of the game.

A 13-0 run sparked by a Dyson three-pointer with six and a half left quickly put the Black Bears down by 15 points with 3:41 to go.

Also contributing to that three-minute run was senior Oren Faulk, who chipped in with all six of his points and capped what proved to be the largest rally of the game with a lay-in under the hoop. In the minutes leading up to intermission, the two teams went back-and-forth as Hartford headed into the locker rooms up by 14 at 43-29.

The Hawks shot 53.3 percent in the first, a stretch that saw Sikma lead all scorers. The junior went 4-of-4 from the floor, knocking down both of his attempts from three-point territory.

Out of the break, Hartford picked up right where it left off, pulling ahead 58-39 with 12:51 to go thanks to back-to-back three-pointers from Dyson. The Hawks were unstoppable from downtown in the final half, hitting 8-of-11 for 72.7 percent.

The lead continued to grow and with nine minutes to go, Hartford built its cushion up to 23 points. Within a two-minute span, Dyson, Wes Cole and Cooper each converted from downtown to give their team their largest advantage of the evening at 69-46. Dyson went 4-of-6 from the field and 4-of-5 from deep in the second to help the Hawks maintain their margin.

Maine did threaten late, though, as it wheeled-off 11 unanswered points to cut an 84-63 deficit down to 10 points with 83 seconds remaining. Converting on 7-of-8 from the charity stripe, the Hawks were able to hold off the Black Bears’ late comeback bid down the stretch, coming away with the 11-point win.

Completing the series sweep, Hartford has won eight of the last nine against the Black Bears.

In addition to beating Maine, Nwakamma would yet again make his presences known during the 61-59 victory over the University of New Hampshire.

A solid defensive effort in the final stanza coupled with 16 second-half points from Nwakamma helped Hartford storm back from a six-point deficit and come away with the victory. Shooting 10-of-19 from the field, Nwakamma recorded a game-high 25 points, bettering his previous career-best of 24 points and also recorded seven rebounds to lead the battle of the boards.

The Wildcats maintained their edge for a good portion of the second. Hartford, however, never trailed by more than five down the stretch made it a single possession game on six occasions, but could never get over the hump.

That all changed with 6:57 remaining on the clock, though, as Dyson buried a three-pointer, to cap a 5-0 run and put his team in front at 48-47.

From that point, there were three more lead changes and five more draws until another Dyson bucket, a mid-range jumper, with three minutes left made it a 56-55 score in favor of the home team.

UNH got an answer with 2:37 left, using a deep three-pointer from Jaleen Smith to regain a 58-56 margin, but that proved to be the visiting team’s final advantage of the contest.

Less than 20 seconds later, Nwakamma delivered the game-tying basket on a layup before converting on another layup with 1:39 to go to put the Hawks back in front, 60-58.

Defense proved to be the deciding factor down the stretch, as Sikma and fellow junior Jamie Schneck blocked back-to-back UNH attempts from under the basket, preventing the potential game-tying shot from reaching the cylinder. With 1:03 left, Patrick Konan made 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to bring the Wildcats within a single point.

UNH had a pair of chances to win or tie, both out of timeouts, in the closing minute. After Hartford came up empty on the other end following Konan’s make from the line, the Hawks forced a deep three out of Dion, one that was way off the mark. Three seconds later, following a made free throw from sophomore Evan Cooper, Frank Okeke could not get his layup to fall as Hartford scored its fourth-straight win over New Hampshire.

Dyson and junior Yolonzo Moore II rounded out the top Hawk scorers, contributing nine points apiece.

The first half was a slugfest as Hartford and New Hampshire exchanged the lead five times and had a pair of ties.

Scoring eight of the final 10 points of the stanza, the Wildcats, who built their largest lead of six on a Chris Bronner three-pointer 12 minutes in, found themselves ahead at the intermission with a 34-29 advantage.

The win marked head coach John Gallagher’s 50 since taking over at the helm of the Hawks prior to the start of the 2010-11 season.

Heading into the final stretch of the regular season, the Hawks have two road games next on the schedule, starting with their first-ever trip to UMass Lowell on Wednesday. Tipoff from the Costello Athletic Center is slated for 7 p.m.

Even with his 19 points, Moore’s efforts were not enough to give the Hawks a win. Courtesy of HartfordHawks.com

With a 90-78 win over Holy Cross, the Hawks are back into flight. An offensive surge midway through the second half helped the University of Hartford men’s basketball team pull away from Holy Cross on Saturday at the Chase Family Arena.

Ending a five-game skid, the Hawks improve to 3-7 while the Crusaders, who came into the contest riding a three-game win-streak, drop to 5-4.

A Nate Sikma triple seven minutes in broke a 10-10 tie and provided the Hawks with an advantage they would not relinquish for the remainder of the contest.

Leading 39-33 at the intermission behind 10 first half points from Mark Nwakamma and all 14 of Evan Cooper’s tallies, Hartford took control and expanded that advantage into double-figures thanks to a Sikma jumper at the 16:53 mark.

Holy Cross didn’t go down without a fight though, as it came back to cut a 12-point Hartford edge down to two.

A three-pointer from Malcolm Miller, who led the Crusaders with 18 points, sparked a 10-0 run that made it a 50-48 game with 13:07 left to play.

Moore had 11 of his points during Hartford’s game-deciding rally, a stretch in which the Hawks outscored the Crusaders, 22-9, over a seven and a half minutes span.

Turning in a hot 8-for-11 shooting performance while forcing three Holy Cross turnovers during that spurt, Nwakamma added seven points to help give the Hawks a commanding 72-57 lead with 5:55 to go.

For the first time in over 10 years, six Hawks scored in double figures for Hartford, which set a season-high in points. Junior Yolonzo Moore II led all scorers with 21 points to help the team reach the 90-point mark, a feat that has not been accomplished since a home game against Lafayette on Dec. 4, 2008.

Not far behind Moore in the scoring column was  Nwakamma, who registered 19 points.  Cooper added 14 points while junior Corban Wroe rounded out the scoring for the starting five with 11 points, a career-high.

Off the bench,  Sikma and Wes Cole had 15 and 10 points, respectively.

Following the big win against Holy Cross, Moore II led the team in scoring for the second-straight game, but his 19 points weren’t enough as the Hawks fell at neighboring rival Central Connecticut, 73-59 on Tuesday.

Hartford led by five early, using a Cole jumper at 12:17 to take a 13-8 edge over the Blue Devils.

Seeing that lead dissipate down to one point on back-to-back Central Connecticut buckets, Sikma knocked down his second three-pointer of the night to push the Hawks’ edge back to four with 10:17 minutes left.

That Sikma triple would be Hartford’s last field goal for quite some time while the advantage also proved to be the visiting team’s final of the contest.

An 8-0 spurt put Central Connecticut ahead for the first time at 20-16 with 5:54 remaining.

With 5:02 left in the opening stanza, Cole was fouled from three point range and converted on all three free throw attempts to end Hartford’s five minute scoring drought and close the gap to 20-19. That deficit would be quickly extended to eight, though, as the Blue Devils scored seven points within a 47 second span to go ahead by, 27-19, at the 3:15 mark

Hartford showed life down the stretch, ending a nine-minute field goal dry spell with an Oren Faulk layup and making it four unanswered points on a pair of Moore II free throws.

That momentum wouldn’t be enough for the Hawks to close out the stanza as Central Connecticut used another rally to take a 39-27 lead before the half ended.

A deep three at the buzzer from De’Angelo Speech capped that Blue Devils’ 8-0 run and provided the home team with a 12-point margin at the break.

Central Connecticut opened up a 16-point advantage five minutes out of the break, scoring nine of the first 14 points of the stanza to take what was then its largest lead.

The Hawks refused to go down without a fight, as they brought their deficit down to 10 on two occasions with Cole’s second three-pointer of the half making it a 53-43 contest with 10:49 left.

Using five more unanswered points on a Moore layup and a Nwakamma three from the top of the key, Hartford chipped its deficit down to six points with 8:18 on the clock before Central Connecticut pulled away for good, building an 18-point advantage with 2:58 left by outscoring the Hawks, 19-9 down the stretch.

Malcolm McMillan led four Blue Devils in double figures with 15 points while Faronte Drakefor and Kyle Vinales each added 14 points.

After turning in one of their best shooting efforts from the floor on Saturday against Holy Cross, the Hawks struggled to convert from the floor as they connected on just 34.8 percent of their shots.

The Blue Devils were consistent throughout the game, shooting 53.1 percent in the first and finishing at a 52.6 percent clip.

Now at 3-8 on the season, Hartford returns to action on Sunday when it heads to Sacred Heart for a 2 p.m. matchup.

Hartford has not been this productive this season, averaging 61.9 points a game. Courtesy of HartfordHawks.com

Hartford men’s basketball played Yale and Holy Cross in back–to-back games  which resulted in losses adding to an overall poor record.

For the second-straight game, sophomore Taylor Dyson led the University of Hartford men’s basketball team in scoring, but the Hawks got off to a slow start on Sunday and fell to Holy Cross, 80-55.

Coming one point shy of matching his career-high established last night against Hofstra, Dyson scored 15 points while classmate Evan Cooper also finished in double figures for the second-straight game.

Contributing all 14 of his points in the second half, Cooper helped the Hawks turn around one of their worst first-half performances in recent years.

After compiling 13 turnovers to start the game, Hartford did a better job taking care of the ball in the second, committing eight turnovers in the final 20 minutes.

In addition, the Hawks followed-up a cold 7.7 percent effort from the floor, a span that featured just one first-half field goal, by shooting 14-for-27 down the stretch.

It was too little too late, though, for Hartford, which dug itself a 21-point deficit at the half. Despite turning around a 0-for-6 effort from three-point territory by draining nine from long range, including six in the game’s final 8:41, the Hawks couldn’t claw their way back from what was a 60-28 disadvantage.

Despite holding the visiting Yale Bulldogs to 20 points below its season average Saturday, the University of Hartford men’s basketball team could not maintain a second-half lead as it lost its fourth-straight game by a 54-49 final.

The Hawks drop to 2-6 overall while the Bulldogs go above the .500 mark for the first time this season at 4-3. Hartford has not had this poor of a start to a season since the 2011-12 campaign.

Junior forward Mark Nwakamma scored a team-high 15 points and led the Hawks’ rebounding effort with nine, while classmate Wes Cole sank four of his six shot attempts from downtown to finish with 12 points. For Yale, Justin Sears had game-best numbers in four categories, finishing with 16 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and four blocks.

Taking a three-point lead into the halftime break thanks to a late 7-0 spurt, the Hawks used another stretch of seven unanswered points to push ahead, 32-25, at the second stanza’s 13:20 mark. Yolonzo Moore II, who finished with eight points, sparked that spurt with a layup and Cole, who had a triple early in the game, sank his second from three-point range to provide the Hawks with their largest lead of the contest at 32-25.

Yale answered back, and quickly got back in the game as Sears contributed six points of an 8-0 run to regain its lead at 33-32 with 11:04 left to play. That edge see-sawed back-and-forth two more times before the Bulldogs put together a brief 5-0 spurt to break open a 37-37 tie with 5:34 to go.

That five-point advantage proved to be short-lived for Yale as the Hawks clawed back to push ahead by one with over two minutes remaining on the clock. Adding four unanswered points to the scoreboard on a pair of Evan Cooper free throws and a layup by Nwakamma.

Cole responded to a Javier Duren free throw by drilling another one from behind the arc to provide Hartford with the slight 46-45 edge.

Two possessions later, Nick Victor put Yale back in front with a layup with 96 seconds left to play before the Bulldogs extended that advantage to four at 50-46 with 39 seconds left on three-consecutive free throws from Armani Cotton.

Eleven seconds later, Cole struck again, closing the gap to one point with his fourth and final three of the night from the corner.

Facing a three-point deficit with 20 seconds left thanks to two more Yale free throws, the Hawks had a chance to score a quick two points, but Moore’s eight-footer was blocked.

With five seconds to go, Hartford turned the ball over on the broken play, and Yale sealed the game from the charity stripe with a pair of makes from Jesse Pritchard.

Hartford will look to seek revenge this Saturday as they will host Holy Cross once again.

Tip-off against the Crusaders is set for 1 p.m.

Simms helped the Hawks move on with his goal. Brian Izzo | The Informer

The Bearcats traveled to Hartford’s Alumni stadium with an overall record of 3-10-5, for a quarter-finals matchup.

Struggling to maintain form this season Binghamton now comes against the Hawks who are 13-3-3 overall, and adding to their winning streak to five straight and have gone 6-1-1 over the last eight games.

The Hawks  won 1-0 over Binghamton thanks to sophomore Javoni Simms.

Simms scored 3:20 into overtime, after a scoreless 90 minutes.

With the win, the Hawks will advance to the semi-finals of the America East tournament.

Hartford’s calm and efficient pressure resulted in Simms unassisted goal.

The Hawks shut down the options for Bearcats goalie, Stefan Frantellizzi who misplaced a pass that took a deflection, only to find the feet of Simms who buried a shot to the left post, defeating Frantellizzi.

The goal was Simms seventh of the season, who is leading the team in goals scored.

The Hawks best scoring opportunity during regulation time came early in the second half.

Anthony Santaga’s header off a Rohan Roye service in the 47 minute came within inches of giving the Hawks a lead but ricocheted off the crossbar and was cleared by Binghamton’s back line.

Jeff Tryon helped maintain the offensive thrust for the Hawks. He sent another header over the cross bar in the 56 minute.

Five minutes later he directed a pass toward a streaking Udi Cohen inside the 18-yard box.

Frantellizzi came out of his net to make a sliding interception of the pass and thwart the opportunity.

The Hawks had another scoring chance in the game’s 70 minute.

David Bernhardsson gathered a crossing pass to the left of the Binghamton goal but his shot sailed left of the net.

Three minutes later Bernhardsson shipped a pass from the left of the box across the goal frame but Jhamie Hyde couldn’t gain control to get a shot on net.

Binghamton avoided another scare with nine minutes remaining.

With Frantellizzi scrambling to get back into position following a blocked shot and scrum, Santaga put a shot on goal that was saved by a Bearcats defender.

Both teams had chances in the final two minutes of regulation.

Frantellizzi made a leaping save of a Cohen header following a free kick with just over a minute left.

The action quickly moved to the other end where Binghamton’s Alex Varkatzas re-directed a pass from just outside the box.

Hartford’s David MacKinnon cradled the ball for the save and the teams headed to overtime.

Lowe secured the Hawks at least a four seed for playoffs. CourtesyofHartfordHawks.com

An early goal provided by junior Damion Lowe gave the University of Hartford men’s soccer team a crucial 1-0 win on Saturday on the road at Albany at Ford Field.

The win, helped the hawks improve to a 10-point total in America East action and clinch a conference tournament berth in the process.

Earning its seventh road win, the most in a regular season by a Hawk squad since turning Division I in 1984, Hartford improves to 11-3-3 with a 3-2-1 mark in the conference.

Albany drops to 4-10-4 and falls to 2-3-1 in America East contests.

With less than two minutes off the clock, Hartford got out to an early 1-0 lead after converting on a volley off a corner kick.

Improving his assist total to four, a team-best, senior David Bernhardsson sent in the pass to Lowe on a corner kick, who provided the finishing touches on the volley for his career-best fifth goal of the season.

On the defensive side of the pitch, Lowe was just as solid in the back line, helping Hartford shut out its fourth-straight opponent.

Keeping its opposition off the scoreboard for the last 39 minutes of regular time, the Hawks have compiled 10 shutouts this season, a Division I school record for Hartford.

Freshman and rookie David MacKinnon needed to make just one save between the pipes to earn his eighth win, marking the second-most by a Hartford freshman in the school’s Division I era.

His eight shutouts have also made an impression in the Hawks’ record books, as they are the second-most behind Chris Doyle who had 8.1 clean sheets in 1998.

The Hawks also played a very physical game that resulted in the team picking up five of the total six yellow cards on the night.

Lowe received two of the cards forcing him to sit out and had the Hawks playing a man down for the final 15 minutes.

Hartford is tied with Vermont in the league standings for third place.

Owning the tiebreaker with the Catamounts, the Hawks are two points behind New Hampshire (4-2-0) in the standings.

Hartford has just one game remaining on the 2013 regular season, a Wednesday night home match with UMass Lowell at 7 p.m.

A win over UMass Lowell coupled with a New Hampshire loss to Vermont on Wednesday would land the Hawks at second in the conference standings and result in a first-round bye for the squad.

With the third and fourth seeds in the America East Championship hosting the quarterfinal round, Hartford can finish no lower than fourth in the conference.

Simms helped the Hawks pick up a win with his goal. Brian Izzo | The Informer

An eight-game winless streak against the Vermont Catamounts was snapped on Saturday afternoon as the University of Hartford men’s soccer team prevailed, 2-1, in triple overtime in America East action at Alumni Field.

Javoni Simms netted the golden goal early in extra time to help the Hawks improve to 8-2-2 overall and score their first win in league play (1-1-0).

Hartford’s poor history against Vermont has been re-made by junior defender Damion Lowe, senior striker Anthony Santaga and junior forward Omar Tall.

Vermont opened up the scoring early in the first half with a breakaway goal from Daniel Kucynski but Hartford came back before the end of the half, scoring in the 38 minute to equalize the match.

Off a free kick, the Hawks capitalized on scramble in the box as Lowe netted the equalizer from the left side.

Just six minutes later, Santaga put Hartford in the lead at 2-1 right before the intermission with Tall and Jeff Tryon assisting to break the tie.

A crafty give-and-go between Tall and Tryon in front of the box set up Santaga from six yards out beat Vermont keeper Conor Leland for his second marker of the season with 91 seconds to go until the end of the half.

Halfway through the second half the Hawks maintained their advantage until a costly foul from Hartford’s back line. Charlie Defeo teed a low shot to the left beating hawk goalie David Mackinnon.

With only 14 minutes left in regulation, Santaga received a pass 15 yards out and rifled a shot a few feet shy of the top left corner.

Despite Vermont earning three more shots and a trio of corner kicks down the final stretch, neither team broke the tie to force overtime.

After Santaga’s opportunity was just wide of putting the match away 42 seconds into overtime, the Hawks were successful in their next strike.

Freshman Romario Jones blasted a shot at Leland, one that he was able to stop but not control, for his fourth and final save of the game.

The rebound, landed at the feet of Simms, was easily tapped over the line of the unmanned goal by the sophomore to lead the home team to the victory.

The game-winning tally was Simms’ second of the season while Jones chalked up his first career point on the assist.

MacKinnon finished with a pair of saves, including a spectacular deflection in the opening minutes of the match to prevent an early score from Defeo.

The Hawks led in shots, 14-11, but conceded a season-high 10 corner kicks to the Catamounts, including nine in the second half.

The Hawks have faced overtime five times this season, and are 3-0-2 in those contests.

Hartford will play hosts to Binghamton this Saturday at 7 p.m. The Hawks will look to continue their winning streak against the Bearcats as they beat them last year with a score of 1-0.

Santaga’s absence may have been the cause for the Hawks loss. Brian Izzo | The Informer

Hartford suffered their first loss of the season against George Mason this past Saturday night, who scored late in the first half to cap off a 1-0 win for the Patriots.

The Hawks failing to find the back of the net were unable to equalize as their record slips to 6-1-2, as for George Mason they progress into a 5-2-1 for the season.

Freshman Romaio Jones was inches away from finding the net, just before George Mason’s Laurent Newsome provided his team with a goal.

A corner with 11 seconds to go Newsome linked up with Tim Mulgrew, curling a ball to back post defecting off Mason Eckenrode, to pouncing Newsome inside the six-yard box making it his third goal of the year.

Up 1-0 on the closing seconds of the first half, the Patriots prevented Hartford from coming back.

Prior to what proved to be the game-winning marker, freshman Jones provided Hartford with its best scoring opportunity of the match.

In the 41 minute, Jones connected on a long throw-in from Aleko Petridis, blasting a high shot from just outside the penalty box.

Outstretched, George Mason keeper Steffen Kraus got his fingertips under the ball, forcing it to hit the bottom of the crossbar and drop just in front of the goal line.

In the opening minutes of the second half, the Hawks were forced to play from behind for the first time this season.

Their luck began to turn around as they played a ten-man Patriot squad after the ejection of Eckenrode, upon receiving his second yellow card of the night.

The match then took a ping-pong effect in which both teams went back and forth, but even with the one-man advantage Hartford still could not capitalize.

Back-to-back opportunities were created by the Hartford offense in the 68 minute, but neither would force Kraus into action. In that stretch, Romario Jones had his shot blocked by the Patriots’ defense before David Bernhardsson countered on the rebound, sending a shot wide to the left.

Kraus finished with a pair of saves for the Patriots while MacKinnon recorded one stop on the evening.

The Hawks were playing without forward Anthony Santaga and defender Rohan Roye, a pair of starters who were forced to the sidelines as a result of previous cautions.

Hartford  will start off conference play as they will host the UMBC Retrievers this Saturday at 7 p.m.

David MacKinnon helped the Hawks to another shutout. Courtesy of HartfordHawks.com

The University of Hartford and American University played 110 minutes of scoreless action on Friday night, as both teams battled to a 0-0 deadlock at Al-Marzook Field at Alumni Stadium.

With the tie, the Hawks remain undefeated in 2013 with a 3-0-2 overall record while the Eagles shift to a record 1-2-2.
An enduring match, that featured 44 fouls and eight cards issued between the two squads, Hartford generated 14 shots, doubling the amount of its opponents, but was unable to put the finishing touches on any of its quality attempts.

Freshman goalie David MacKinnon was called into action twice on the evening and answered on both occasions, earning his third clean slate.

Since his debut last Tuesday he has not allowed a single goal, reaching a stretch of 355 consecutive shutout minutes.

Leading the offensive attack for Hartford was sophomore Javoni Simms and senior Anthony Santaga.

Two of Santaga’s opportunities were put on goal, forcing American goalkeeper Billy Knutsen into action.

Knutsen finished with four saves on the night, including an impressive stop on what could have been the game-deciding goal, a point-blank Santaga shot from five yards out in the 97 minute.

Outshooting the opposition 14-7, Hartford then boasted the two best scoring attempts of the opening stretch.

The first of which came off the boot of Simms early in the match and the final look coming in the closing minutes by Santaga.

In the 11 minute, junior Omar Tall pierced the defense with a lateral pass from the left side of the 18-yard box to Simms.

Upon receiving the pass, Simmsthen rocketed a shot from eight yards away, but Knutsen made the stop.

Later in the half, Simms again created chances for the Hawks, pushing a deep pass downfield on a breakaway opportunity in the 41 minute.

His ball found a streaking Santaga who blasted a one-touch shot towards the goal, but his opportunity was inches too high as his attempt ricocheted off the crossbar to keep the match level upon the 45 minute mark.

Hartford continued to fire shots in to American’s zone after the break.

Rookie Jeff Tryon stepped up taking his first of two shots in the 50 minute, misfiring just wide of the left goal post while in the 66 minute, Tall got his right foot behind a long attempt from beyond the penalty area, but missed high.

The final two minutes of regulation featured an exciting series of close calls for the Hawks.

A scramble inside of the 18 yard box turned into a series of passes off the heads of Jhamie Hyde and Bernhardsson that were directed to the right boot of Santaga.

The senior was right on the mark, but Knutsen was in the right place to make the save in the 88 minute.

Less than a minute later, Bernhardsson initiated the final attempt on goal.

After shaking American defender Jake Garcia in a one-on-one battle in the box, Bernhardsson slotted a pass to Simms.

Firing a header, Simms was just high of the goal in the 89 minute. Shortly after, Hartford was forced to play a man down, as Simms was booked for his second card with 84 seconds remaining in the first overtime period. Hartford was unable to muster up a shot in the final 11 minutes.

The Hawks will be back at home this Friday to take on the Crimson from Harvard at 7 p.m.

The Hawks are really dominating on the pitch this season. Brian Izzo | The Informer

Last Friday the Hartford Hawks hosted the Siena Saints from Albany, New York at the Al-Marzook field in Alumni Stadium.

Hartford’s 1-0 victory over the Saints adds to their unsurpassed record of 2-0-1. With the loss, Siena dipped down in the standing with a record of 1-1-0 to start the 2013 season. The only player to mark the score sheet was junior back Damion Lowe in the 77^t minute.

Hartford came right out of the gate blazing, as they blasted in 14 shots into the Saint’s zone, with five of those shots coming in the first six minutes of the first half.

Overall, the top performance from the Hartford back line, conceding only one shot in the half as well as a shut out, was freshman goal-keeper David Mackinnon. MacKinnon, who had a dominating performance last week in overtime in a tie against Villanova, once again played very well for a strong Hartford defense who only saw two shots come their way in the entire game.

Straight from the kick-off the Hawks “kicked” it into gear. Utilizing their width, the Hawks created several opportunities in Siena’s defensive third, posing a real threat to Siena’s defense.

Sienna’s luck seemed to turn around in the 32 minute as they got a glimpse of the goal after receiving a corner kick. Failing to conceive from the corner sparked a series of three back-to-back corners in which the Saints come out empty handed. Neither team found the back of the net in the 0-0 dead lock of the first half.

The start of the second half mimicked the start of the first, where the Hawks continued to show their dominance. Using their width on the pitch, Hartford created many scoring opportunities testing Siena’s keeper and his goal line skills.

With just about 20 minutes left, Hartford had another near miss, when Rohan Roye, sent a pass to Javoni Simms at the 22-yard mark. Simms pushed a low shot through the Saints’ zone, but the traveled just wide of the opposite goal post in the 72 minute.

On the Saints doorstep the Hawks continued to press inside the box, inching closer to the back of the net. With just under 14 minutes remaining in the second half, Lowe scored a header off a corner kick. The ball swung in from the left corner finding Lowe back post, heading it down bouncing inside the six yard box teasing Siena’s keeper before slipping it way into the back of the net, giving our Hawks the 1-0 lead.

The Hawks will be back home this Friday, when they will take on last year’s Patriot League runner-ups, American, at 7 p.m.