KEUKA PARK, N.Y. – After battling back from a five goal deficit heading into the fourth quarter, the Hilbert College men's lacrosse team fell to Keuka College 12-11 just 80-seconds into overtime in the NEAC semi-final game tonight.

Seniors Elliott Russillio (3g/2a) and Sean Purtill (2g/2a) led the Hawks offense, but no goal seemed bigger than Andrew MacKay's in the fourth quarter which knotted the game at 11-11 with 3:22 remaining.

Keuka took an early 3-2 first quarter lead and doubled the lead by half time (8-4).  The Hawks added only two tallies in the third quarter while the Wolfpack stretched their lead to five goals (11-6) after 45 minutes of action. 

Elliott Russillio scored back-to-back goals within thirty-five seconds of each other to start the come-back rally.  Sean Purtill added his final score in a man-up situation at 13:21 and Bill Moleins struck the back of the net with a man-down goal at 5:32.  MacKay gave the Hawk fans exactly what they wanted, a marker before the final horn. 

What happened after the start of the extra period didn't fall the Hawks way, but they have nothing to be ashamed of.

Hilbert outshot Keuka (39-33) with six more shots on goal (24-18) and committed three fewer turnovers than the Wolfpack.  Hilbert scored three times on their six extra man opportunities while their defensive unit limited the hosts who scored only 3 of their 9 man-up ops.

Keuka was credited with five more ground balls (45-40) and their goalie finished the game with 13 saves.

Hilbert and Keuka each ended the game with 17 clears and it was a 50-50 finish on face-off wins.

Matthew Simon scored both of Hilbert's first quarter goals while Purtill and Tyler Nicoloff (up) gave the Hawks a total of four goals by the break.  Russillio scored the second man-up goal to start the third quarter and Drew Ulbrich beat the Wolfpack keeper mid-way through that period.  But Hilbert still trailed 11-6 going into the fourth quarter and force the extra period of play.

Roland Jimerson won all of Hilbert's wins in the face-off circle (12-24).  Ian Holtby was credited with seven ground balls with support from Russillio and Jimerson who chipped in five ground balls each.  Nathaniel Hyman and Garrett Rehner closed their season with two caused turnovers against the Wolfpack.

Hilbert closed their 2015 season at 9-6 overall and were the #3 seed as they joined post-season play for the third consecutive season.