BURLINGTON, VT – First-year players Kane O’Neill (Lochwinnoch, Scotland/Gryffe HS) and Kyle Honor (Setauket, NY/Ward Melville HS) picked critical times to register their first goals in a Hartwick uniform. O’Neill’s blast with five minutes to play in regulation tied the score and Honor’s tally 3:13 from the end of the second overtime period lifted the Hawks to a 2-1 victory at the University of Vermont Tuesday night at Virtue Field in Burlington, VT.
             The Hawks are now 5-1-2 overall. Four of their last five matches have reached extra time. They are 2-0-2 in those matches. In addition, Hartwick wins for just the second time in their last eight games against the Catamounts. They improve to 6-9-2 in 17 meetings.
             The Hawks matched the Catamounts (8-2-1) for the duration in a very evenly played game. Vermont had entered the game as the last team out of Tuesday’s NSCAA Top 25 poll in the “receiving votes” category. The Catamounts were ranked second in last week’s East Region poll.
              “We went toe to toe with a very strong Vermont team tonight,” said winning coach John Scott. “It was always going to be tough defending for the duration of the match, especially because of the abilities of their front runners and the bombardment of their set pieces.”
              The Hawks and Catamounts were even in shots in both halves as well as the first overtime. UVM out-shot Hartwick 2-1 in the final frame, but the Hawks earned the spoils.
              The two teams battled through 80 minutes of end-to-end action before the hosts opened the scoring. Shane Haley beat a defender on the left side of Hartwick’s goal and drove a low cross to Bernard Yeboah who hammered home for his team-leading ninth goal of the season with just 9:54 remaining in the second half.
              “They deserved to go ahead although it was disappointing to fall behind,” Scott added. “But for the third game in a row we’ve responded and come from behind.”
              It took the Hawks 4:48 to get the tying goal. As the Hawks pressed forward, a ball popped out to O’Neill 30 yards from goal. He unleashed a left-footed bullet to the top corner beyond the reach of UVM keeper Aron Runarsson and the game was even with just 5:06 to play.
             “It’s a wonder strike from Kane,” Scott said. “His technique was different class which made the strike unstoppable.”
             The Hawks absorbed pressure from the Catamounts in both the overtimes. Three minutes, 52 seconds into the second extra frame, the hosts nearly won it on Hayley’s effort from outside the box. He replaced power for placement but the ball knocked off the far post and the game remained level.
              Less than three minutes later, ’Wick put the game away. On a counter attack on the right side of UVM’s goal, a ball was played across the field to the left. Honor found an opening and coolly one-timed his shot past Runarsson for the winner. Cameron Paton (Edinburgh, Scotland/The Royal HS) was credited with the assists on the play.
              “Kyle’s goal to win it was special. For a freshman to show that much composure against such pressure was unreal.”
              The Hawks were out-shot by a slim 16-15 margin in the match. Johnny McBeth (Glasgow, Scotland/Upper Iowa University) had four shots to pace Hartwick. O’Neill, Jack Donaldson (Paisley, Scotland/Mars Hill University), Marc Berry (Galashiels, Scotland/Galashiels Academy), and Harry Morton (Napier, New Zealand/Te Aho O Te Kura Pounamu) each had two.
               Lenny Wilson (Aberdeen, Scotland/Cults Academy) would come away with six saves in the match, including three in second half and one in the first overtime period.    
               Hartwick returns home to play Bryant University on Saturday during True Blue Weekend. The Hawks are looking for their first win against the Bulldogs. They fell by a 4-2 margin in 2014 before dropping a 2-1 decision last season.

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