Box Score Box l Updated stats
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Nazareth surged to a 7-0 lead in the opening 10:35 and went on to defeat visiting Hartwick 17-5 in a men's Empire 8 Conference lacrosse game on Saturday. With the Golden Flyers' proficiency winning faceoffs (20-24), effective rides on the Hawks' clears (held Hartwick to 9-20 successful clears), and stingy defense, Nazareth held Hartwick to only six total shots. The Golden Flyers' offense, meanwhile, amassed their 17 goals on 62 shots with nine different players finding the back of the Hawks' net. Sophomore Troy Haefele and senior Collin Clark each tallied four goals to lead the attack.

With the victory, Nazareth improves to 6-5 overall and 4-0 in conference games. With the loss, Hartwick falls to 2-7 overall and 0-4 in Empire 8 contests. The Golden Flyers host top-ranked RIT on Wednesday in a non-conference game at 4 p.m. The Tigers stretched their undefeated record to 11-0 with a 15-8 victory over Rensselaer on Saturday.

The Golden Flyers' potent attack ignited quickly with a pair of goals in the opening minutes. With the first man-up opportunity, Clark scored his first of the game after collecting a pass from junior Will Fallo. Senior Trevar Haefele scored an unassisted goal roughly a minute later, which was followed by an unassisted score from freshman Hunter Burdick. Clark and Troy Haefele then stretched Nazareth's advantage to five with goals spanning only 14 seconds. Clark's third goal of the quarter, only 6:47 into the game, gave Nazareth a 6-0 lead. Burdick found the back of the net less than two minutes later for his fourth goal of the season. The Golden Flyers outshot the Hawks 19-0 in the opening 15 minutes.

In the second quarter, Hartwick and Nazareth traded goals. Following Hartwick's goal by Cody Petillo, senior Chris Aycock converted another man-up chance after receiving a pass from classmate Brian Wright. The Hawks' Zach Gropper tallied his team-high 19th goal of the game before Troy Haefele scored with 2:10 to play in the half. The Hawks' goalie, Michael Rourke amassed 11 saves in the quarter to prevent the Golden Flyers from stretching their lead further.

Clark scored his fourth goal of the contest, and 14th of the season, only 65 seconds into the third quarter. Clark's goal was the first of five consecutive tallies that extended Nazareth's lead to 14-2 with 7:22 remaining in the stanza. Following Clark's goal, Fallo added another unassisted score before Troy Haefele added two goals. The first was assisted by sophomore Matt O'Neill, and the second was an unassisted score on a man-up opportunity. Haefele's goals give him a team-high 26 on the season. Junior Kyle Fanning capped the run with his second goal of the season after collecting a pass from classmate Matt McDermott.

After Nazareth's run, Evan Petillo and Cody Petillo each scored for the Hawks, but Fallo answered for the Golden Flyers. O'Neill tallied his second assist of the game with his pass to Fallo. With three seconds remaining in the quarter, Matt McCallan scored Hartwick's third goal after Nazareth turned the ball over on its defensive side of the field.

The Golden Flyers' sophomore Connor McKercher and freshman Robert Haggerty scored the only fourth quarter goals. McKercher's goal was his first, and it was assisted by freshman Joe Eiskant. Haggerty's goal was his second.

Rourke finished with a game-high 21 saves in 52:09 of action in the loss. He allowed 15 of Nazareth's goals. In relief, Matthew Galvin and Luke Tetrault played 7:06 and 45 seconds, respectively. Galvin was credited with two saves and allowed two goals, while Tetrault did not see a shot on goal in his time in net.

Sophomore Scott Brown earned the win with four goals against in 43 minutes of playing time. Freshman Michael Cuciti allowed one goal in the final 17 minutes.

Junior Drew Simoneau won 16-18 faceoffs and collected 16 ground balls. Going into the game, Simoneau ranked first in Division III in ground balls collected with 13.44 per game, and he ranked 12th nationally in faceoff winning percentage at .679. The Golden Flyers enjoyed immense advantages in total shots (62-6) and ground balls (41-22).