Breen Lifts Lacrosse in 2OT win over No. 10 Herkimer

CONTACT: Adam Sopris, a.sopris@hvcc.edu, 518-629-7898 or 518-416-2137
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Tuesday, March 22, 2022

The Hudson Valley Community College men's lacrosse team earned a hard-fought 12-11 double overtime upset win over No. 10 Herkimer College on Tuesday afternoon at the Outdoor Athletic Complex on the campus of Hudson Valley Community College. This is the fourth straight game where the Vikings have competing against a nationally-ranked NJCAA institution. 

Following a back-and-forth first quarter, Willis Bickford scored at the 7:39 mark in the second quarter, his second of the game, to pull within one goal of the Generals but Herkimer responded by going on a 3-0 run to end the first half leading the Vikings 9-5. 

The Vikings made a run in the third quarter to set up a back-and-forth final quarter and overtime periods. As the Vikings continued to run at the Generals late in the fourth quarter, Hudson Valley called timeout to collect themselves and immediately coming out of the timeout, Matthew Calicchia connected for the goal that tied the game up at 10-10 with 5:33 remaining in the game. Calicchia had another monster game for the Vikings as he finished with a team-high three goals and three assists. 

Herkimer responded with a fast break goal, making the extra pass for the easy goal as they retake the lead over Hudson Valley 11-10 with 2:15 remaining. 

Similar to the Vikings goal to tie the game at 10, the Vikings came out of a timeout and connected for another game-tying goal with two minutes left in the game. Gavin Breen tied the game up at 11-11 with his second goal of the game and was assisted by Calicchia.

In the sudden death overtime, a faceoff violation was called on Herkimer, giving the Vikings the first possession of the extra frame, but just a back-and-forth period opened the door for the second overtime period. 

In the second extra frame, Breen put the game away as he sent a shot into the top right corner of the net, just over the reach of the Generals goalie for his third goal of the game and secured the Vikings upset win of national-ranked Herkimer 12-11. 

The schedule does not get any easier as they are set to travel west to take on another pair of NJCAA top-10 programs in No. 9 Monroe on Saturday, March 26 at 4 p.m. in Rochester and then they take on No. 7 Genesee on Sunday, March 27 at 1 p.m. in Batavia.