ATHOL SPRINGS, N.Y. – Alfred State built a four-goal lead by intermission and withstood Hilbert's second-half rally as the Pioneers grabbed a 9-6 victory over the Hawks in men's lacrosse this morning.

Both goalies were extremely active in front of the cage as they combined for 38 saves today. 

Elijah Ryan posted his first double-digit game as a starter, earning 17 saves in 59:54 seconds.  Alfred State's Matt Cobb played catch all day with the Hawks and was credited with 21 saves, many at point blank.

Alfred started the game fast.  They attempted 21 shots over the first two quarters as the Pioneers built a 4-0 lead by half time.  A-State controlled the pace of the game the first 30 minutes and forced Hilbert to cover a lot of field on defense.

Hilbert rebounded in the second half, outshooting A-State 28-21, outscored them 6-5, grabbing five more ground balls and winning three more face offs.

Alfred State took a 2-0 lead into the second quarter and added two additional goals to their tally in the final 25-seconds of the first half.

The Pioneers strung together three more goals before Travis Hicks put the Hawks on the scoreboard with 3:17 left in the third.  Edward Mathias added another marker before the start of the final quarter.

Marc O'Neill kept the Hawks' rally going with his first goal of the game at 13:47 in the fourth.  90-seconds later Alfred State extended their lead, 8-3.

The Hawks continued to push on offense getting multiple looks on each trip down the field.  Mathias flipped a James-Duffy pass into a point at 8:05, O'Neill added his second goal (Anthony Cappola assist) at 5:40 and James Duffy was on the scoring end of his hook-up with Mathias with 2:15 left in the game. 

A-State scored the final goal of the day with 57-seconds left on the clock damping Hilbert's late-game rally.

Mathias attempted 16 shots and led the Hawks with three points. Duffy and Tyler Balsavage each earned five ground balls while Austin Good was credited with a game-high four caused turnovers.

Hilbert (2-4) return to NEAC action April 4 with they travel to Eden High School for their home game against SUNY Poly at 4pm.

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