DURHAM, NH – Hartwick sophomore Tim Crawford (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas HS) picked an opportunistic time to score his first career goal. His tally in the 67^th minute on Friday gave Hartwick a 1-0 victory over Central Connecticut State at the University of New Hampshire’s Bremner Field. With the win, the Hawks improve to 2-3-2 on the year and play for at least a share of the 22^nd Annual Nike Fall Classic title on Sunday.
            “I’m delighted for the boys,” said head coach John Scott after the match. “We’ve talked so much recently about what it takes to win at this level. We’ve got to have passion, commitment, enthusiasm, and an enormous work-rate for 90 minutes. The boys delivered that today.”
              The game-winning tally came at the 66:28 mark of the match. Central midfielder Will Broomfield (Brighton, England/Cloud Community College) won a ball in the middle of the field and attacked the Blue Devil defense. He slipped a pass through the back line to Crawford who was one-on-one with CCSU goalkeeper Anthony Occhialini. Crawford took a few touches and slotted the ball past Occhialini to give the Hawks the advantage.
            Central Connecticut took four shots the rest of the way, none of which was on target. The Hawks nearly got a two-goal cushion in the 76^th minute following a corner kick. Simon Greatwich’s (Lewes, England/Lewes Priory) kick found defender Russ Oost-Lievense (Westport, CT/Staples HS) in the box, but his header struck the crossbar.
            The Hawks were fortunate not to surrender an early goal in the game as Blue Devil forward Eddy Bogle got in behind the ’Wick defense less than three minutes into the contest. His shot, however, slid wide of the post.
            Hartwick came close to breaking the scoreless tie 16minutes into the match on an effort from forward Jason Keefe (Springfield, MA/Springfield Central). Keefe found himself alone with Occhialini and made a move around him, but the CCSU keeper made a solid save to deny the shot.
            At the end of the first half, the Hawks held a slight 5-4 edge in shots. Both teams had five opportunities from the corner flag.
            The Blue Devils came close to taking the lead three minutes into the second half following a corner. Jesse Menzies took the kick which found the head of Aaron Durr. His header struck the Hartwick crossbar and the game stayed level.

            Eighteen minutes later, Broomfield would find Crawford for what proved to be the game-winning tally for the Hawks.
            “It was a total team effort today,” added the Hartwick skipper. “Broomfield and Greatwich controlled the middle of the field, Oost-Lievense and Pat Thompson (Candor, NY/Candor) were exceptional in the back, and Keefe played his most complete game in a Hartwick uniform.”
            Hartwick goalkeeper Tom Buckner (Oxford, England/Henley College) registered three saves to earn his first collegiate clean sheet. Occhialini made three saves in a losing effort.
            “Buckner was a vocal leader out there for us,” said Scott. “Crawford played all over the pitch today and we also got solid minutes out of Joel Collins (Johnson City, NY/Binghamton Univ.) who has been injured.”
            New Hampshire plays Air Force in the second match of the opening day of play at the tournament. The Hawks will play the host Wildcats Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
           

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