CONTACT: Adam Sopris, a.sopris@hvcc.edu, 518-416-2137 or 518-629-7898
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Saturday, March 2, 2019

The Hudson Valley Community College men's lacrosse (1-0) team gave the home crowd an offensive clinic in their 19-7 season opening win over Union County on Saturday afternoon at the Vikings Outdoor Athletic Complex in Troy, NY. 

The Vikings sophomore leaders took control of the game following a couple early goals by Union County. Trailing 2-0, the Vikings went on a 7-1 run to end the first half with a 7-3 lead. Nicholas Malatesta (North Greenbush/Averill Park) and Darren Nagy (Saugerties/Saugerties) had a hand in six of the Vikings seven first half goals. Malatesta tallied two goals and two assists, while Nagy scored two of his four goals in the opening half. 

In the second half, sophomore Austin Hinderliter (Ephratah/Johnstown) exploded for all six of his goals, including three straight goals over a span of five minutes in the fourth quarter to blow the game open in favor of Hudson Valley. 

Malatesta added two assists and one goal in the fourth quarter and finished with a game-high seven points. 

Freshman John Lawlor (Colonie/Colonie) put the Vikings on the board at the 3:11 mark in the first quarter, which opened the flood gates for the Vikings. Lawlor also scored back-to-back goals in the third quarter, including a man-up goal with less than three minutes remaining in the quarter. 

Sophomore keeper Trevor Ham (Kingston/Kingston) had a great game for the Vikings today. Ham prevented several scoring opportunities by stopping point-blank shots by Union County attackers, which enabled several fast-break scoring chances for Hudson Valley. 

The Vikings men's lacrosse program has won three consecutive season openers and are scheduled to hit the road for a tough back-to-back schedule beginning on Saturday, March 9 at Ocean County (1:30 p.m.) and concludes on Sunday, March 10 at Mercer County (1 p.m.).