The Hartford Hawks scored four straight goals in the second half to overcome a 5-3 deficit and went on to defeat Vermont, 7-6, in an America East men’s lacrosse game last Wednesday at Middlebury’s Kohn Field. Hartford, 2-0 in the conference and 5-5 overall, got two key second-half goals from freshman Garett Kikot, the last of which was the eventual game-winner with 6:05 remaining in the game. Senior goalie Rorke Greene, the Co-Player of the Week in America East, had nine saves, including a huge stop on Vermont’s Mike Maher (Huntington Station, N.Y.) with two seconds remaining. Vermont, 4-5 overall and 1-1 in conference play after the loss, had a 2-1 lead after the first quarter, thanks to goals from freshman Matt Taylor (Butler, Md.) and Chris Legare (Derry, N.H.) and five saves from sophomore Michael Gabel (Falmouth, Mass.), the Co-Player of the Week in America East along with Greene. The game was tied, 3-3, at halftime before Vermont took a 5-3 lead on goals by Taylor and junior Phil McKnight (Baltimore, Md.). Hartford responded with four straight, with Travis Eckler scoring from B.J. Lavoie late in the third quarter before Kikot sandwiched goals around a tally by Chris Sauro. Taylor led the Catamounts with two goals and an assist, while senior Thomas Hajek (St. Catharines, Ontario) also had two goals and Legare had a goal and an assist. Gabel finished with nine saves for Coach Steve Beville’s team. Vermont then took on Binghamton on Saturday afternoon. Senior Doug Moses (Marietta, N.Y.) scored a goal and added two assists and McKnight scored the game-winner with 4:26 remaining as the Catamounts defeated the Bearcats, 5-4. The Catamounts, now 5-5 overall and 2-1 in America East play, jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second quarter on goals by Austin Humphries (Salem, Va.) and Mark Prior. After a Binghamton goal made it 2-1, Vermont’s Mike Maher (Huntington Station, N.Y.) scored with three seconds remaining in the first half, off a feed from Moses, to give Vermont a 3-1 lead at the half. Binghamton rallied and tied the game at 3-3 and 4-4 before McKnight’s game-winner late. In goal, sophomore Michael Gabel made seven saves, while Binghamton’s Chris Sochacki had five for the Bearcats, 3-6 overall and 1-3 in conference action. Vermont hosts Stony Brook this Saturday at UVM’s Centennial Field in a key America East matchup. Game time is 1:00pm. -SportsInfo