Hartford lacrosse debuted on Saturday and was attended by 1,747 fans at Al-Marzook Field.

Despite the exciting and bright setting for their season opener though, the Hartford men’s lacrosse team was unable to stop the Maryland Terrapins from walking off their home field on Saturday with a 16-4 victory to start the Hawks’ season at 0-1.

“It just wasn’t clicking for us today,” said men’s lacrosse head coach Peter Lawrence said about loss to the No. 2 team in the nation that entered the game after beating Mount St. Mary’s 23-6.

“I think partly it’s because we kept shooting ourselves in the foot in the beginning, and when you don’t get it rolling you start playing tight, because you then feel like everything has to be perfect, and, there was still a lot of time left in the game.”

The Hawks failed to move the ball around on offense and didn’t score in until late in the first quarter.

It wasn’t until there was 1:33 left in the first that Hartford scored their first goal, the Terrapins had already score three goals themselves.

“We just needed some more guys to show up today, and make a few more plays,” Lawrence said, as his Hawks were outshot 51-32.

Along with needing guys to show up, Lawrence also said it was the Fifty-fifty ground balls that plagued Hartford in the loss.

“They weren’t even necessarily those ground balls in the face off area, it was just loose balls,” Lawrence said, as his Hawks were out ground-balled 38-20.

That first Hartford goal coming from Andrew Cacchio on an assist from Jack Bobzien, Maryland’s first four goals before then came from Owen Blye, Kevin Cooper, Jake Bernhardt, all unassisted, and Mike Chanenchuk on an assist from John Haus.

Maryland’s Cooper would score an unassisted goal once more after Cacchio’s to give the Terps a 4-1 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Cooper then assist Haus’ second goal of the game, to start the second quarter, before Hartford’s goalie and defense would see eight more goals until 5:56 remained in the third quarter with the Hawks would score again.

An unassisted goal that was scored by Dew Haig at that point, Hartford would allow two more Maryland goals, from Jay Carlson and Billy Gribbin, before entering the fourth quarter.

During which, both teams switched goalies to start, with Hartford replacing Frank Piechota with Dan Zenevitch. Piechota left after allowing the 15 goals, while also making 13 saves.

Maryland replaced Niko Amato, who allowed the two goals while making eight saves, with Kyle Bernlohr.

With the new goalies protecting the nets, Hartford was able to score first, on a goal from Jared Franze assisted by Garret Dollard, and Austin Gorman assisted by Haig, before Maryland’s Bobby Gribbin would score once more on an assist from Brendan Saylor to make the final 16-4.

Zenevitch would finish allowing the one goal with three saves, as Berhnlohr would finish allowing the two goals with four saves.

Their next game is Feb. 23.

Senior Rory Nunamacher does his best to make his way to the net, but the Terrapin’s defense was just too stout. Brian Izzo | The Informer

It’s unfair, an outcry and disrespectful, right?

The authority changing it is rules without notification to those who are supposed to follow is downright ridiculous, isn’t it?

Well, in regards to how the authority here at the University, the administration, deals with changing it’s rules, The Source, students have been making those claims lately. And they have every right to.

They’ve been making them about the recent health and safety inspections that were conducted within the past two weeks. They were made because this year, such inspections were conducted without giving notice to the students. That practice, notifying residents of when health and safety inspections are, was routine in the past.

Unfair, an outcry and disrespectful, as stated before, are the words that students have come to us at The Informer with after having health and safety inspections of their residential living assignment conducted without any notice.

Those words chosen, they said, because when the inspections were being conducted, they said to the resident assistants that were conducting them that they had no idea they were going to get inspections.

After stating such claims to their resident assistants, those resident assistants replied with a comment similar to, “Well, you should’ve checked The Source.”

At such a point in the conversation, we can enter the problem. The problem, of students not being aware of The Source and all it has to offer.

One reason for such uninformed behavior, and a primary reason for, is the fact that we students sign The Source once becoming new students at the University, and that’s pretty much it. That’s pretty much the only time students look at The Source, if even then. Because, really, how often to you check The Source?

But at this point in our conversation, enter the problem of just that, not checking The Source.

A pretty out there task, checking The Source, as it is the formal document, with all it’s fancy language, that defines what we can and cannot do as a resident on this campus.

However, regardless of out there of a task it is, in The Source you will find the stipulation that it can be changed whenever necessary, as it is explained in the second page of it. That stipulation alone, is substantial enough to make you want to check The Source whenever possible.

Whenever a ruling institution, whether it be a document or public figure, changes it’s policy on how it rules, such documentation should be thoroughly looked over. The Federal Government does it whenever the Constitution changes, so with The Source being pretty much the constitution of on campus residents’ we should look through it thoroughly as well.

However to that though, in an environment in which students are experiencing new adventures in terms of academics, professional insight and social responsibility, in ways that test them to extremes not reached by many other experiences, I am with the students side.

Not entirely, before I go any further though, as negligence is no defense against any crime or allegation made. It still is up to the students to maintain knowledge and understanding of again, that governing institution.

But having said that, some help, some assistance, some form of an assisting hand, if you will, from the administration to make sure students are aware of such changes, would be nice.

While yes, when a resident moves into their residential hall in the fall and signs a key receipt, they also agree that they read and understood the housing contract, which states that such inspections will occur as relating to the The Source.

The final point in my conversation, where I offer a solution to this problem, is here: at said key receipt signing, present documents that outline and state the changes that have been made to The Source that will affect how residents live on campus.

I understand that we students must learn to maturely follow the law of the land and keep up to date with it, as again, negligence is no defense by any means. But for the sake of allowing college students to enjoy those first few months of school, which we all know they are all excited about, provide that extra bit of communication effort, instead of what appears to be an attempt to pass new regulations without notice to those being affected.

Courtesy of Eliza Newman

With it becoming clear to Facilities here at the University that a large storm, with high winds was in store Friday, Feb. 8 preparations were being made.

By monitoring weather situations through the Weather Channel, local news and a premium service through Accuweather, which provides more detail, preparations were beginning for possible power outages affecting on campus residences not on generators.

“Storm tracks can vary especially in the northeast so at about 48 hours out (Wednesday in this case) Facilities began checking equipment, preparing staff assignments and notifying our primary snow removal contractor,” Norman Young said in an email explaining how the University handled the recent Winter Storm Nemo and Blizzard Charlotte.

Four Seasons LLC, that contractor used by Facilities, operated the large front-end loaders use on campus used for the storm, Young explained.
“With snow depths this great, pushing snow is ineffective,” Young explained. “In many cases it must be thrown or moved. Large snow blowers and front end loaders work well with heavy snow but the process is very slow.”

The equipment being checked such as the operating condition of plows, snow blowers, sanders and shovels, as well as staff assignments such as postponing scheduled time off and projects like overhauling spring and summer landscape care equipment, repairing of pot holes, repairing of items like fences guard rails and signs.
After such, planning meetings took place on Thursday with Facilities, Residential Life, Public Safety, Office of Marketing and Communications, Food Service, the Provost’s office and the President, Young explained.

Then, by putting previously developed plans, such as reading the Sports Center as an emergency shelter location if power lost, communication and timing including web, text, phone and social media outlets, Academic and event schedule impacts, condition of and readiness of our campus generators including fuel levels, availability of supplies such as plywood, duct tape, portable generators, heaters in the even of power loss and wind damage, staffing of phones to answer parent questions, and with high confidence that the storm would hit the area, an early decision to close was made.

“All of these issues have been vetted and procedures have been put in place,” Young said. “The planning meeting is designed to check in with all the key people to double check that everything is in place.

“Every emergency situation is different and a lot of time passes and people change between emergencies so it’s always a good idea [to] talk it all through.”
With the decision for weather related closures, a process that includes a joint recommendation, Young explained, by himself, the Associate Provost to the President, who make the final decision, Friday came.

“As the storm began to pick up and snow began to accumulate, Facilities and our contractor began removing snow from key area,” Young said, with key areas being the main road ways and entrances to the Sports Center and Commons.

“At this point in time, the changing forecast stood at 12 to 18 inches,” Young went on to say. “As the forecasted snow amount increased to 18 to 24 inches with heavy snow rates per hour predicted overnight into Saturday morning, it became clear that continued removal would be fruitless and operations were put on hold until the storm subsided early Saturday.

“This decision was reinforced as the forecast increased to over 24 inches late Friday night.”

With the storm having been prepped for and arriving, next for facilities was to clear the main roads and residential area, which included Commons for food service and the Sports Center which must remain open for emergency sheltering purposes and for general student use.

“The storm left 27 inches of snow which I believe is the most this area has seen in one storm since the Blizzard of ’78,” Young said. “This presented a significant challenge and the amount of snow rendered some of our smaller equipment useless or at best ineffective.” Walk behind snow blowers and plow blades attached to small trucks being that smaller equipment, Young further explained, which he said are effective in most storms but not effective in storm that left 27 inches of snow.

With high winds continuing through the day on Saturday, Young said, resulting in snow being blown back onto clear surfaces, compounding the problem, “it soon became apparent that clearing the residential areas would continue into at least Sunday and that the Academic areas would have to wait.

“This prompted a decision to cancel all events for Sunday and close school for Monday.”

“We have a somewhat unique situation on our campus in the number of entrances and exits to be cleared at our residential areas,” Youn said. “Most people think of a residence hall as having a front door and perhaps a back door or fire exit much like Hawk Hall. We have multiple entrances and exits in most areas.”

“For example, there are almost 250 entrances, and egress areas in the Village Apartments alone,” Young continued to explain. “Each Complex has 4 entrances and 4 exits including those from the basement level. Most of these include stairs, stoops and ramps which must be hand shoveled.”

“Add to that the sidewalks, parking areas, mechanical room doors, and fire hydrants and you begin to get the daunting picture,” he added. “Many of the same issue occur in the academic areas where the majority of the work took place on Sunday.”

“This was an extraordinary storm and with that many extraordinary people rose to the occasion,” Young concluded his email with. “Facilities staff, especially the grounds crew, Public Safety officers and ARAMARK staff worked over many days with little sleep and that sleep for many came wherever they could find a bed or flat surface on campus.

“Many of our Resident Facilities Assistants (RFA’s) and some of our custodial staff took up shovels and worked in the cold and rain to clear critical areas and get the campus ready for opening.

“Their dedication to our community and “get it done” attitude is worthy of note and I hope appreciated by all.”