Utica, N.Y. – The SUNY Poly men's lacrosse team delivered a dominant performance at home Wednesday afternoon, overwhelming the Hilbert College Hawks by a final score of 18–3 behind a fast start, balanced offensive production, and a strong defensive effort. With the win, the Wildcats move to 3-0 on the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
SUNY Poly wasted no time establishing control in the opening quarter. After Graham Genevick won the opening faceoff, the Wildcats struck just 37 seconds into the contest when Kai Hew finished a feed from Cooper Fitzgerald to open the scoring. The Wildcats continued to dominate possession at the faceoff dot, and their offense quickly followed. Cooper Fitzgerald added a man-up goal at the 9:08 mark off a pass from Mitchell Taylor to make it 2–0, and moments later Hew struck again, finishing a setup from Tanner Defren.
The offensive surge continued throughout the period as Defren buried a goal of his own off a Hew assist before Ian Short scored unassisted midway through the quarter. Hew completed his first-half hat trick with a goal assisted by Short, and Ryan Carroll added another tally off a pass from Hew as the Wildcats stretched the margin. Luke Taylor and Casey Ryan each found the back of the net late in the frame, giving SUNY Poly a commanding 9–0 lead after the first quarter.
The Wildcats kept the pressure on in the second period. Defren opened the quarter's scoring at the 13:11 mark, finishing a feed from Short to push the lead to double digits. SUNY Poly controlled possession for much of the half thanks to strong defensive pressure and efficient clearing, repeatedly forcing Hilbert turnovers. Hew added another goal late in the period with an assist from Carroll, and Casey Ryan capped the half with a goal off a Drew Rudd assist with 1:37 remaining. By halftime, the Wildcats had built a 12–0 advantage while limiting Hilbert to only a handful of shot opportunities.
SUNY Poly continued its dominance after the break. Carroll opened the third-quarter scoring with a goal just under a minute into the period, finishing a pass from Hew. Defren followed with his second goal of the game off a feed from Ryan, and the Wildcats capitalized on a man-up opportunity when Casey Ryan converted a pass from Carroll to extend the lead further. Hew added another goal midway through the quarter with Ryan picking up the assist, and Ryan later tallied again off a setup from Hew as SUNY Poly pushed its lead to 17–0 heading into the final quarter.
Hilbert finally broke through early in the fourth period when Kristopher Newman scored off an assist from Eric Capling at the 13:02 mark. Nathaniel Dell added another goal a few minutes later, again with Capling providing the assist, and the Hawks converted a man-up opportunity when Aidan Franko scored off a pass from Dell to make it 17–3. The Wildcats answered late in the period when Carroll capitalized on a man-up chance, finishing a feed from Mitchell Taylor with 2:19 remaining to seal the 18–3 victory.
