UAlbany wins its fourth straight, beating Hartford 14-11 in America East Matchup

West Hartford, Conn. – Brian Caufield had a career-high seven goals and added two assists as UAlbany held off Hartford, 14-11, in America East Conference play on Saturday, April 5 at Al-Marzook Field. The Great Danes won for the sixth consecutive time in the series.

UAlbany (4-5, AE 2-0) took a 13-9 lead into the final period, but Hartford (0-10, AE 0-2) found the cage twice in a 48-second span to cut that deficit in half. Chris Griffin scored unassisted, before Brian Tilley netted his second of the game with 4:10 remaining. The Great Danes’ Dan McKeon, who relieved starting goalkeeper Brett Queener at the intermission, kept his team ahead with two of his six saves over the next two minutes. Senior midfielder Jordan Levine, who tied a career-high point total with two goals and three assists, sealed the outcome with 47 seconds left on the clock.

The Great Danes led 7-5 early in the second quarter, but Caufield tallied four of the game’s next five goals. After his team won a faceoff, the freshman attacker converted Steve Ammann’s feed to begin that run. Hartford’s Tilley, who totaled two goals and one assist, closed the gap to 9-6 midway through the period. Caufield, who did all of his scoring before the break, answered with his sixth and seventh goals, including one that came off a failed clearing attempt with 5:09 left in the stanza.

In the first quarter, UAlbany ran off three unanswered to break an early 1-1 tie. Caufield, whose number of goals was one off Merrick Thomson’s single-game freshman record established in 2004, converted Mike Ammann’s pass. Levine and Corey Small followed with goals 12 seconds apart. After Levine scored unassisted, midfielder Kevin Courtney collected the subsequent face-off to set up Small.

Robert Nosworthy, a freshman midfielder, had three goals for the Hawks, who opened the league schedule with a 7-5 loss to Vermont one week ago. Justin Bearse had two first-half goals and handed out one assist. UAlbany’s Small accounted for two goals and one assist, as his team won its fourth in a row and after opening with five consecutive defeats.

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UAlbany 14, Hartford 11

UAlbany – Scoring: Brian Caufield 7-2, Jordan Levine 2-3, Corey Small 2-1, John Alpizar 1-0, Derek Kreuzer 1-0, Chris Schongar 1-0, Mike Ammann 0-2, Steve Ammann 0-1, Mark Cometti 0-1; Goalkeeper(s): Brett Queener (30:00, 1 save, 8 GA), Dan McKeon (30:00, 6 saves, 3 GA).

Hartford – Scoring: Robert Nosworthy 3-0, Justin Bearse 2-1, Brian Tilley 2-1, Michael Cudmore 1-2, Jacob Eustice 1-1, Chris Griffin 1-1, Tim Fallon 1-0, Tom Harris 0-1; Goalkeeper(s): Jon McMahon (60:00, 12 saves, 14 GA).