HAMBURG, N.Y. – The Hilbert College men's lacrosse team earned the program's first ever victory over Keuka College this afternoon. 

The Hawks scored five unanswered goals as the game came to a close claiming an 8-5 NEAC win, shifting to 7-5 overall. 

Hilbert improved to 4-2 in the league and with two conference games left to play, the Hawks currently sit in a 2-way tie with SUNY Poly (whom Hilbert owns the tie breaker against) for third place.  The top four teams in the NEAC continue into post-season.

Keuka came out on fire at the start of the game.  They kept the ball on their offensive end most of the half, outshooting the Hawks, 24-12.

Hilbert's defensive core took over in the second half and flipped the ball up the field to the attack. 

Where the Wolves committed only six turnovers in the first 30 minutes, they were tagged with 13 in the second half many of them forced by Hilbert's aggressive defensive play.  Keuka went 14-15 in clears through three periods, yet converted only two of six the final session.

Tyler Balsavage was credited with four caused turnovers and he got help from Austin Good, Chase Harmon and Garrett Rehner.

Grant Stockman won 10 of the game's 17 face-offs and Travis Hicks earned team-high honors with four ground balls as the Hawks held a 32-31 edge in loose balls.

Today also marks the only game in which Hilbert held Keuka to fewer than 10 goals.  The Hawks held the Wolves scoreless in the second half.

Joseph Stevenson posted 14 saves which matched his career-high mark he set earlier in the season.

While the Hawks defense held tight and kept the Wolves off the score board in the second half, Ryan Spath scored three of the team's four goals after intermission.

Keuka took a 2-0 lead to the second quarter and stretched it to 5-4 by intermission.

Joshua Schindler and Edward Mathias evened the score less than three minutes into the second quarter.  The Wolves then scored back-to-back hits 75 seconds apart.   Marc O'Neill put the Hawks back in action with a man-up goal 50-seconds later only to witness Keuka stretching their lead (5-3) with just over six minutes left before half time.  Mathias netted his 31st goal of the season trimming the margin to one goal by intermission.

That's when the Hawks came out ready to play - after the break. 

Spath hit twice in the third quarter and Schindler scored his 27th of the season at the start of the fourth.  Spath finished the day's scoring at 11:21.

Hilbert has a long-day trip mid-week for their final road game of the regular season.  The Hawks will travel to SUNY Cobleskill April 25th for a 4pm contest.

Be sure to stay up-to-date on all your Hilbert Hawks scores and awards by following @HilbertAthletic on Twitter and by liking the "Hilbert College Athletics" Facebook page.  Additionally fans of the Hawks who have an Apple device can receive push notification from the newly created Hilbert College Hawks iOS SIDEARM mobile App which can be found in the Apple Store and ITunes.