The Hawks (11-6; 9-0) came back from a five goal deficit and defeated Bryant (8-7; 5-3) on Friday night by the score of 12-8.

The game began with Bryant dominating the first 15 minutes as they gained a 5-0 lead with a pair goals from Lisa Vendel and Kimberley Sniffen.  With 13:50 left to play in the first half, the blue and white were finally on the board with a goal from sophomore midfielder Emily Barbieri.

Sophomore midfielder Allison Stathius scored two consecutive goals in the next three minutes to cut the Bulldogs lead to 5-3. However, Bryant answered right back with a goal at the 8:43 minute mark.

Sophomore Karlee Dean wasted little time to respond for MU to cut the lead to 6-4.  Stathius scored her third goal of the game with 4:37 left in the first frame.  Dean scored again to tie the game up going into halftime at 6-6.

The Hawks carried their momentum from the end of the first into the second half, with Dean scoring her third goal just 49 seconds into the frame.  She scored on a free position shot and gave the blue and white their first lead of the game.

Three minutes later, Dean scored again, and increased MU’s lead to 8-6.  Vendel scored her third goal of the afternoon to cut the Hawks lead to one.  The Hawks then scored four unanswered goals, including another one from Stathius, one from senior attacker Cassie Campasano, and two from senior midfielder Sam Savona.

Vendel scored her fourth and completed the scoring at the 6:57 minute mark to end the game with a 12-8 score.

The men’s tennis team beat visiting Sacred Heart (SHU) 5-2 on Saturday afternoon. The win improved the Hawks overall record to 6-7 and evened their conference record at 3-3. Sacred Heart fell to 3-12 on the season with a conference record of 2-4.

“Our guys have improved a lot individually and we’ve improved overall as a team,” said first year Head Coach Cory Hubbard. “It was nice to put it all together today and get a victory over a quality team.”

Partners Ramy Bekhiet and Freddy Marcinkowski got MU off to a good start when they won their doubles match by a score of 8-3, but SHU then responded with an 8-1 victory over Joe Talafous and Eric Pierce in the No. 3 doubles section. In the deciding match for the doubles session, Jason Prezant and Jason Rothstein earned a hard-fought 8-4 victory and gave the first point of the match to the Hawks.

In the singles portion of play, John Lopresti of SHU shutout Talafous, 6-0, 6-0, to even the match at 1-1. MU then responded with two straight points when Rothstein beat Kevin Budrawich, 6-2, 6-2, and Marcinkowski defeated James Barnhart, 6-3, 6-3. The Pioneers then cut the lead to 3-2 after Matt Dean beat Prezant, 6-2, 6-2.

However, Bekhiet was able to clinch the match for the Hawks when he defeated Justin Pagan, 7-6, 6-1. In the final matchup of the day, Pierce extended the margin of victory for MU as he beat Brian Power in a tiebreaker, 6-3, 4-6, 10-4.

Pierce’s match was a grueling one that saw the freshman take the first set, but then drop the second and fall behind early in the tiebreak only to win seven straight points and earn the victory.

The baseball team hosted this weekend’s series against Northeast Conference Rival, the Wagner Seahawks, as they won three of four games. The Hawks faced the Seahawks in two double headers, with Saturday’s first game being nine innings and the second being seven innings. On Sunday, the first game was seven innings long while the second game went nine frames.

Opening the series for the Hawks was junior southpaw Andrew McGee. McGee pitched all nine innings earning his fifth complete game, thus tying his five complete game record from last season. With the win over Wagner, McGee boosted his record to 6-1 and yet, McGee felt beating Wagner as a team was more important than any personal record.

“Wagner is our biggest rival. I don’t really know why but for some reason, whenever we play them, we just always get amped up to play,” McGee said. “When I came in as a freshman, everyone wanted to beat Wagner. It’s not personal, we just get amped to play them.”

McGee surrendered two runs, one of which was earned, in the contest and struck out five batters.

MU’s offense had a tough battle against Wagner ace Ryan Casey. Collectively, the team connected for six hits, two of which came off senior third baseman Owen Stewart’s bat.

The blue and white had a game changing sixth inning when they scored three runs off three hits. Leading the rally was freshman designated hitter Danny Shea as he hit his first collegiate home run over the left field wall giving MU a 1-0 lead. Sophomore catcher Kyle Perry followed with a double to give the Hawks their second runner in scoring position of the game. Sophomore center fielder Steve Wilgus and senior first baseman Chris Perret both failed to get to first, bringing junior second baseman Jake Gronsky to the plate. Gronsky reached first after being hit in the head with a pitch.

The softball team is starting to build momentum as they notched wins in all four games they played this week at home in double headers against La Salle University and conference foe Central Connecticut State University.

“I think they like their own facilities,” said Head Coach Louie Berndt. “They’re accustom to the routine, but once that first pitch is thrown and the game starts it’s all about playing the game.”

MU took the field for the first time of the week on Tuesday at home against the La Salle Explorers and their bats set the tone, scoring seven runs in the first game to win 7-0.

Sophomore Vanessa Cardoza went 2-3 on the day, including a team high two RBI.

Senior Lauren Sulick, this week’s NEC Pitcher of the Week, threw an absolute gem, commanding the strike zone throughout the contest leading to a complete game seven strikeout outing.

The Hawks got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third when junior Shannon Fitzgerald was able to score on a passed ball.  The offense picked back up in the fifth inning for MU when senior Tish Derer brought in freshman Nikki Sandelier on a fielder’s choice reach with the bases loaded. With the bases still loaded, junior Alicia Desanto was able to draw a walk to extend the lead to three.

Another fielder’s choice brought the lead to four for the Hawks before Cardoza blasted a two-out, two-run triple to right-center giving the Hawks a six run lead.  Sophomore Kayleena Flores ended the scoring for the day when she brought in Cardoza with a double. Sulick closed the game just as strong as she started it, making it a 7-0 victory for the Hawks.