EDEN, N.Y. – The Hilbert College men's lacrosse team picked up a big win this afternoon.  First they battled Mother Nature and all her finest and then they took a 5-4 NEAC victory over previously undefeated SUNY Poly.

The Hawks, who evened their league record at 1-1, held the Wildcats to a season-low four goals after they have averaged 12 points per game through their first six contests.

Both teams survived the 50 miles per hour wind storm and the scattering of snow pellets in a full sixty-minute contest at Eden High School.

Senior Joshua Schindler, junior Marc O'Neill and sophomore James Duffy each posted two points in the victory.  Schindler opened with a man-up goal in a back-to-back setting in the third quarter but it was Edward Mathias' behind the back hit in the fourth that turned out to be the game winner.

Sophomore Joseph Stevenson earned 14 saves in goal and evened his record to 3-3 on the season.

Sophomore Tyler Balsavage earned game-high honors with four caused turnovers and nine ground balls and senior Grant Stockman won five face-offs along with six ground balls.

SUNY Poly out-shot the Hawks (33-21) but only held a two-shot advantage with shots on goal.  Both teams turned the ball over 20 times yet the Wildcats scooped seven more ground balls than the hosts.

SUNY Poly held a 2-0 lead at the start of the second period before senior Travis Hicks scored at 12:12.  Hicks fourth goal of the season was followed by Marc O'Neill's seventh at 3:44 which sent both teams to their locker rooms for an extended half time period, per NEAC cold weather policy guidelines.

Schindler found the back of the net twice as the only goal scorer for either team in the third period and Mathais' find in the fourth completed a three goal sweep for Hilbert.

SUNY Poly closed the game with a pair of markers before they turned the ball over in the final minute ending their chance to force overtime.

O'Neill added an assist to his second quarter goal and Duffy assisted on O'Neill's and Mathias' game winner.

Hilbert (3-4) will host Bryn Athyn this weekend back at Eden High School.  The Hawks will face-off at 1pm April 7.

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.