BRADFORD, Pa. – Hilbert Men's Lacrosse clawed their way back into the game before half time, forced overtime and then captured the 7-6 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference semifinal victory over Pitt-Bradford tonight.

The Hawks showed their resilience and impressive character as they never quit and battled back to head to their first AMCC Championship Title game.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Jason Sage drove the offense with three assists and one goal while Joey DiMaria led with four points fueled by three goals.  
• Aidan Franko scored the game winner and finished the day with two goals while Ty Franko finished the scoring for the Hawks.
• Jonathan Roustum and Mason Shehadi were both credited with three caused turnovers while Shehadi, Ty Franko and Ethan Barlow led with seven ground balls each.
• Griffin Miller finished with 12 saves over the 61:04 minutes of action and Kristopher Newman won 50% of his face offs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Bradford opened the game with a 5-goal lead, sneaking three past Griffin Miller in the first quarter before tacking on two more goals less than three minutes into the second session.
• The Hawks exploded with five answered hits before half time, with the final score tickling the twine with one-second left in the second quarter.
• Joey DiMaria scored his first two goals over a 90-second span, then the Franko brothers got in the scoring column with Ty scoring first then Aidan matching his younger brother's efforts at 6:50.
• The Hawks, after calling a timeout with 0:23 on the game clock in the second quarter, unleashed two shots before intermission with Jason Sage knotting the game at 5-5.
• After a scoreless third quarter, Bradford went back on top less than thirty-seconds into the final period.
• The Hawks had several chances with point-blank shots midway through the fourth but finally, with 0:50 left, Joey DiMaria finished a Jason Sage pass to the back of the net and forced overtime.
• Bradford won the opening face off to start the four-minute overtime period, but Jonathan Roustum forced a Panther turnover midfield.  After Aidan Franko's shot went wide, the Hawks restarted action behind the net.  Jason Sage fed the game-winner back to Aidan Franko with 2:56 on the clock and the Hawks then celebrated all over the field.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Hilbert outshot the Panthers (34-30) but trailed by one shot-on-goal (17-18).
• The Hawks were tagged with 37 turnovers while forcing 28, built a 40-31 advantage in ground balls and split face off results evenly with the Panthers.

UP NEXT

Hilbert, 5-7, advances to the AMCC Title game May 3rd.  The Hawks will travel to No. 1 Alfred State who earned a dominating 23-4 victory over No. 4 La Roche today.  Faceoff is set for 1:00 pm