Canisius scored eight unanswered goals in the third quarter to take control of the contest and post a 16-12 victory over Hartford in collegiate men's lacrosse action Saturday at the Pinnacle Athletic Campus in Victor, N.Y. Junior Carter Stefaniak recorded five goals and fellow junior Mathieu Boissonneault pitched in four for the Golden Griffins (2-2). Freshmen Jacob Buck and Jake Lemon pitched in two goals apiece while senior keeper Brad Nordstrom finished with 14 saves. Dylan Jinks tallied three goals to lead Hartford (0-2). Owen Trepeta and Tyler Corpora pitched in two apiece while Nicholas Ferraro made eight saves between the pipes for the Hawks. Trailing 8-6 at the start of the second half, Canisius used goals from Stefaniak and Buck just 47 seconds apart early in the third quarter to tie the game. Stefaniak notched his second of the stanza a little more than a minute later to give the Griffs the lead before tallies seven seconds apart from Buck and Boissonneault extended the Canisius cushion to 11-8. Boissonneault completed the natural hat trick with a pair of tallies later in the frame while Stefaniak provided the exclamation point to the third-quarter surge with his third of the quarter at the 2:31 mark to give the Griffs a 14-8 cushion. Hartford make a comeback push at the start of the fourth as Jinks rattled off three straight goals and Trepeta added his second of the contest to trim the Canisius margin to two with a little more than eight minutes remaining. That would be as close at the Hawks would get, however, as a man-up goal from sophomore Ryan Cicci with five minutes remaining and an even strength goal from Boissonneault in the final minute determined the four-goal margin. Earlier in the contest, Canisius raced out to an early lead, using tallies from four different players in the opening 5:42 to build a quick 4-0 cushion. Hartford answered back, using a goal from Zach Elkinson to spark a 7-0 run that lasted 11:27 and gave the Hawks a three-goal cushion early in the second. Stefaniak halted the Hartford run with back-to-back tallies to bring the Griffs within one, but Ty Thompson scored with 51 seconds in the frame to send the Hawks to the locker room up two, 8-6, setting the stage for the Griffs' third-quarter surge. Head Coach Mark Miyashita's Postgame Comments "It was a game of runs today. We jumped out quick on them and they came right back and put us in a hole early on. The guys were able to regroup at halftime and that 8-0 run in the third quarter really was huge. We knew they were going to get a couple, and they certainly did with the 4-0 run to start the fourth. We were fortunate to stop the bleeding and get a couple to hold on for the victory. "In the third quarter, we were able to play at the tempo that we want to be at and we ran and executed the systems we have in place for us as a team. If we can get back to doing that on a consistent basis for 60 minutes we'll be excited, but it's a growing and a maturation process with this group of guys coming together and jelling. "I liked our resiliency in the fourth quarter. That's a great way for us to build some character and gain some experience about how to play in tight situations. We'll definitely watch film and see some things we can learn from, but we were fortunate to get the win. It's a little easier to learn from those with a victory in hand, but certainly there is a lot to clean up." Game Notes • Saturday's game served as the third meeting between Canisius and Hartford and the first since the 2000 season. The Griffs picked up their first win in the series with Saturday's victory. • Canisius out-shot Hartford by a 40-37 margin for the contest, highlighted by a 17-4 edge during the third quarter. • Canisius won 19-of-32 faceoffs contested on Saturday, with junior Daniel Balawejder recording a career-high 17 victories at the faceoff X. • Hartford was just 18-of-22 on clearing attempts while Canisius was 19-of-20. • Canisius was 2-for-5 in man-up situations while Hartford was 1-for-3. • Stefaniak matched his career high with his five-goal effort on Saturday, equaling his total from the Griffs' matchup with Siena on March 24, 2018. The performance also represented his first hat trick of the season and the eighth of his career. • Boissonneault posted his second hat trick of the season and the seventh of his career with his four-goal performance on Saturday. • Nordstrom recorded double-digit saves for the fourth straight contest with his 14-save performance on Saturday. Up Next • Canisius makes its home debut next Saturday when it takes on Air Force in a 1 p.m. contest at the Demske Sports Complex in downtown Buffalo.