2019 Men’s College Lacrosse Year In Review: #63 Hartford Hawks

With the 2019 college lacrosse season complete, it’s time to look back at how all 73 teams did during the season, along with an early look at each squad for 2020.

Note: These are not end of season rankings.

Here’s our last five Year In Review posts we’ve done:

• #68 Binghamton
• #67 Dartmouth
• #66 Bryant
• #65 Bellarmine
• #64 Lafayette

To see all of our posts, check out the 2019 Year In Review section on the site.

Let’s continue our 2019 Year In Review!

#63 Hartford Hawks

Conference: America East
2019 Record: 4-11 (2-4 in America East)
Head coach: Ryan Martin (3rd Season)

Statistical Leaders

Goals: Dylan Jinks (37)
Assists: Ty Thompson (28)
Points: Dylan Jinks (58)
Faceoffs: Nolan Little (94-of-175; 53.7%)
Ground balls: Ryan Lovell (58)
Caused turnovers: Chris Campbell and Wade Tucker (11)
Goals against average: Cam Logan (13.24 GAA)
Save percentage: Cam Logan (47.2%)

Personnel Losses

Key seniors departing: A Dylan Jinks (37 Gs, 21 As, 14 GBs, 2 CTs), M Alex Borja (24 Gs, 4 As, 18 GBs, 4 CTs), FOGO Nolan Little (53.7% FOs, 37 GBs, 1 A), SSDM Zach Elkinson (2 CTs, 29 GBs, 1 G, 3 As), D Claude Bradshaw (6 CTs, 12 GBs)
Senior scoring departing: 94 of 266 points (35.3%)
Senior starts lost: 34 of 150 (22.7%)

Season Summary

It’s been three seasons since Hartford was the surprise champion of the America East. And while they’re not anywhere near that just yet, there is hope that the Hawks can return to that level.

Hartford was pretty close to reaching the America East Tournament with a 2-2 record heading into their final two games of the season. They looked to be in great shape carrying a three-game winning streak against then-winless Binghamton. But they fell to the Bearcats by three goals and ended up hosting UMBC at home in the regular season finale, with the winner going to the conference tournament. The Retrievers took that game and eventually won the conference title.

But outside of their overall record and late struggles in conference play, there was a lot of development within the program. With eight seniors and five juniors, there were plenty of underclassmen that played big roles, especially on defense.

Freshman Cam Logan started 12 of the team’s 15 games in goal with a 13.24 goals against average. Freshman Chris Campbell and sophomore Wade Tucker started all 15 games at close defense, while freshman Joseph Bretz started in eight of them and played in 13 total games. Freshman Zak Lanoue and sophomore Carter O’Connell were two of the short stick defensive midfielders.

Freshmen Hunter Krauss and Andrew Boniface were key freshmen on offense, with Christian Paley, Tyler Corpora, and Andre White playing as sophomores. Junior Ty Thompson, a Lycoming College transfer, played a big part of the offense and was a second team all-America East choice, as was classmate Owen Trepeta, who put up 33 points in 2019 after just two in 2018.

But the quarterback of the offense was still Dylan Jinks. After playing midfield as a junior after two seasons at attack, the coaching staff started the year with Jinks at attack before moving him back up to midfield. Jinks was a one of many players that were asked to do different things, with the senior leading by example and going along with the plan.

Looking Ahead

Expect plenty more young players to see the field in 2020. Hartford has only five seniors in a very small class. But despite the small number of seniors, there’ll be plenty of opportunities for younger players to become leaders on the team such as Tucker, who will join rising senior Ryan Lovell as a captain.

The losses of Jinks and Borja will hurt the offense a little, but Hartford should be confident with players like Thompson, Trepeta, Paley, and Boniface returning. Others like Krauss, Corpora, and White will be expected to take the next step in their development as impact players on the team.

The defense could be something special in a year or two with Campbell and Tucker being their top two defensemen. Bretz should also see more time with Bradshaw graduating, while Logan looks to improve on his numbers as a rookie.

Nolan Little also departs after leading the team in faceoffs last season. Look for Justin Tkachuk, who went 46.8% from the faceoff X, to get the first crack at being the primary draw taker.

With plenty of young guys returning and a lot more coming in, there’s lots of learning to do and plenty to be excited about for the future of the Hartford program.