ONEONTA, NY – In a battle of the top two teams in the Sun Belt preseason poll, the Hartwick Hawks used a goal from Kyle Honor (Setauket, NY/Ward Melville) in the 76^th minute to secure full points in a 1-0 victory over visiting Coastal Carolina Saturday on Elmore Field in the league opener for both teams.
            Hartwick, which is ranked 6^th in the latest NSCAA Southeast poll, improved to 7-1-2 overall. The Hawks have now won five straight matches and are unbeaten in their last eight contests (6-0-2). In addition, Hartwick extends its winning streak against Sun Belt opposition to 13 games dating back to the 2014 season.
            The two teams got off to solid starts as they had three scoring chances in the opening five minutes. Martin Melchor ripped a screamer from in close just wide of the Hartwick post 3:45 in. Marc Berry (Galashiels, Scotland/Galashiels Academy) then played a ball in for a Mike Rood (Conklin, NY/Susquehanna Valley) shot that forced a save off the face of Coastal keeper Braulio Linares-Ortiz. A long run from David Raizes produced a shot that forced a difficult save from Hartwick goalkeeper Lenny Wilson (Aberdeen, Scotland/Cults Academy) 1:16 later.
            Later in the half, Jair Espinoza put a header from a feed from Frantzdy Pierrot just wide of the target. Less than a minute later, Berry got deep into Coastal territory but his short cross across the goal mouth couldn’t get on a Hawk foot.
            The half ended 0-0 with the Chanticleers holding an 8-1 edge in shots.
            Melchor had the top two chances for the visitors in the second half. His second with 31 and a half minutes remaining forced yet another save from Wilson to keep the game level.
            Honor found space in the 74^th minute and fired from distance which forced Linares-Ortiz to tip the shot over the crossbar. Honor, however, would capitalize on his next chance two minutes later. Hamish Ritchie (Aboyne, Scotland/Aboyne Academy) started the play with a short pass to Elliott Bentley (Leicestershire, England/Tresham College) on the right side of the Chanticleer goal. Bentley served the ball into the box to the far post and Honor was there to get his head on it and put the ball into the far side of the net for the game’s lone tally. It marked Honor’s second game-winner of the season.
            Coastal pressed for the tying goal and nearly evened the score with eight minutes left. Robin Bjornholm-Jatta’s lofted header had Wilson beat but it struck the top of the crossbar and went over for a goal kick. The Chanticleers had three more shots in the match, one which forced a save from Wilson, but the Hawks weathered the storm to earn the hard-fought victory.
            Wilson would finish the match with five saves. He also gobbled up several Coastal services into the box in the match. He earns his second clean sheet of the season. Linares-Ortiz also made five saves for Coastal Carolina (4-5-2).
            Hartwick is off for the next week before it hosts Appalachian State in another Sun Belt clash on Elmore. Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m.