Thursday, March 14, 2019

Mathias Leads Hawks to Win, Two Rookies Earn HatTricks Against Elmira

Recap, photo courtesy of Hilbert College
ELMIRA, N.Y. - The Hilbert men's lacrosse team returned to action tonight and picked up a 14-5 non-conference victory over Elmira College (0-3) under the lights at Notre Dame High School.

Edward Mathias led the Hilbert charge on offense as he manufactured eight points behind five assists / three goals, and James Duffy added five points as did Drew Werner.

A pair of first-year players notched hat tricks as the Hawks dominated the offensive end, outshooting Elmira 55-29.

Elijah Ryan earned his first win in goal this spring, making seven saves (4 goals) in 53:46 minutes of action.

Freshman Brandon Bitka was the first of three to reach a hat trick, scoring all three goals over a 15-minute span in the first half and Drew Werner quickly tallied his trifecta spaced over 11 minutes in the second half.  Mathias did his work all game but earned the hat trick in the second half.

Hilbert jumped out to a 4-1 lead after 15 minutes and added one more marker in the second quarter. 

Anthony Cappola put Hilbert on the scoreboard first less than 120 seconds into the game.   Bitka then found his touch by earning points every other stat line.  The rookie tossed his first collegiate goal in at 12:05, ahead of James Duffy's 7:42 score.

Bitka scored two more times, one at 3:32, prior to the Soaring Eagles first goal with just five seconds left in the opening quarter. Bitka almost matched his first quarter goal time with his third of the day at 12:10 in the second session. 

The Hawks out-shot the Soaring Eagles 21-14 (14-6 on goal) and led 5-2 by intermission. 

Elmira picked up their pace after the break (out shooting Hilbert 11-10 in the 3rd quarter) and worked hard to catch up to the Hawks as they converted another score at 8:36. 

But Drew Werner's goal almost four minutes later took the wind out of the Soaring Eagles wings and lifted Hilbert 6-3 with a man-up goal.  Mathias tallied his first point after feeding his teammates non-stop in the first half and gave Hilbert a 7-3 advantage heading into the final period.

Matthew Toro marked the board at 13:54 and just 54 seconds later, Werner tallied his second of the day.

Elmira added what turned out to be their final score late in the 10th minute before Werner joined Bitka scoring his man up trifecta.

The Hawks dominated the field and ran away with a 7-2 final quarter scoring effort.

By the final horn, Hilbert outshot the hosts, 55-29, won 17 of 22 face offs and worked for a 55-41 advantage in ground balls.

Elmira scored two (of 5) man-up goals while the Hawks picked the Soaring Eagles for four extra man scores, all in the second half.

Hilbert (1-1) returns to action Wednesday, March 20 with a 4pm face off against Thiel College at Eden Jr/Sr High School.  This is a make-up game from March 2nd.

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