WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – A late goal from University of Hartford senior David Bernhardsson lifted the men's soccer team to a season-opening, 1-0 win over the visiting Holy Cross Crusaders on Friday night in front of a crowd of 1,231 at Al-Marzook Field at Alumni Stadium. The Hawks will seek their first 2-0 start since 2009 when they head to Philadelphia to take on the Villanova Wildcats on Tuesday at 4 p.m.

Playing in his first game in nearly a year after missing most of 2012 with an injury, Bernhardsson scored in the 87th minute on a feed from junior Omar Tall, ending a drought that featured several near misses by both squads. In a scrum inside of the box, Tall gathered the rebound off a blocked cross, finding Bernhardsson who made his return a memorable one by knocking in the game-winner from six yards out.

Finishing on top in the shots column overall with a 15-11 edge, the Hawks dominated the offense for the majority of the opening half, picking up the pace midway through the period. Within a 20-minute stretch, Bernhardsson, Anthony Santaga and Tall combined for four quality attempts, but a series of near misses sent the match into the halftime break tied at nil.

The first two scoring opportunities came off the boot of Bernhardsson, the first of which featuring a free kick from 12 yards outside of the box in the 16th minute. Taking the duties on the foul, the Hawk forward fired a shot over the Holy Cross wall and just missed the left side of the post. Five minutes later, he again came inches away from lighting up the scoreboard for the first time in 2013 after connecting with Santaga on a give-and-go and sending a drive just wide of the left post.

Hartford struck yet again in the 34th minute as Santaga broke away from the Crusaders' defense and blasted a shot from 15 yards out towards the far post. Holy Cross keeper Kevin Wright was in place, though, making one of his six saves on the evening to keep the game scoreless before the break.

Held to just two first-half shots by Hartford's back line, the Crusaders' lone scoring opportunity during that stretch was produced with just six minutes remaining in the period. Josh Cintas managed to dodge the Hawks' defense and unload a shot from point-blank, but sophomore goaltender Viltsu Tuumi was in place to smother the attempt for his second of five total stops on the evening.

After trailing in shots, 7-2, at the end of the first, Holy Cross picked up the pace midway through the second half. Within a 30-second span, the Crusaders posted back-to-back threats, first hitting the cross bar on a Joey DeVivo shot before forcing Tuumi to make a save on a rebound from Monty Sanders.

The excitement carried on into the ensuing possession, however. In the 62nd minute, Simms countered, directing a shot towards the upper right hand corner of the net. Knight was on alert, though, as his outstretched hand nicked the ball enough to redirect the reigning America East Rookie of the Year's shot away from the goal.

One more scoring opportunity would be produced by the Hawks before the deciding goal was knocked-in by Bernhardsson. With exactly five minutes remaining on the clock, Jeff Tryon's first career shot was one that almost went down as the game-winner. With yards of green in front of him, the rookie charged downfield and blasted a hard shot from point-blank. Knight made the snatch on the play, keeping the game scoreless for just two more minutes.

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