Men's Lacrosse Falls To Hilbert In NEAC Opener

AURORA, N.Y. – Junior Alex Milliken (Hilton, N.Y.) led the Wells College men's lacrosse team with three goals in Wednesday's 11-6 loss to the visiting Hawks from Hilbert College. Wells falls to 1-5 overall on the season, drawing its first North Eastern Athletic Conference loss of the year, while the Hawks improve to 2-3 on the season after its first league tilt of 2016. 

Milliken scored three times for Wells while senior Connor Jansen (Horseheads, N.Y.) potted two goals. Sophomore Aaron Heisey (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) scored once while classmate Tanner Mingen (Houston, Texas) added his team's lone assist on the afternoon. Senior Michael Flaherty (Rochester, N.Y.) led his team with three caused turnovers while Heisey reeled in a team-leading and career-high 10 ground balls on the day. 

Despite Hilbert scoring the first goal of the game only 1:07 into regulation time, Wells battled back to take a 2-1 lead after consecutive goals from Jansen and Milliken near the end of the first quarter. The Hawks countered with three-straight goals, creating a 4-2 lead with 12:51 left in the first half, but Jansen and Milliken paired up again to tie the game at four. 

In the last two minutes of the opening half, Patrick Crangle added an unassisted strike to put Hilbert up 5-4 just before halftime. Heading into the break, the Hawks held statistical advantages over Wells in shots (22-to-15) and ground balls (21-to-15) but the Express trailed by only a single face-off victory in the opening 30 minutes (six-to-five). 

A slow start by Wells led to two-straight goals by Hilbert to open the third quarter before Milliken scored with 3:13 left in the frame, cutting Wells' deficit to only 7-5. The Hawks scored four of the game's next five goals to add insurance across the final 17:16 of regulation time and took home the 11-6 victory. 

Wells goalkeeper Elijah Tracey (Utica, N.Y.) made 14 saves in the game, falling to 0-5 overall, while Hilbert's Brenden Deady made 13 saves on 19 total shots faced to earn the victory between the pipes. 

Nathaniel Hyman and James Duffy led Hilbert with three goals apiece while the former hauled in nine ground balls. 

Wells will host Cazenovia College this Saturday, Apr. 2 at high noon in Aurora. The Express will then hit the road for five-straight NEAC tilts before taking on the Mavericks of Medaille College at home on Saturday, Apr. 23 at 1 p.m.