Follow @JonSurratt

When they needed him the most, he answered.

The Quinnipiac Bobcat’s men’s lacrosse team (4-3, 1-0 MAAC) defeated the Hartford Hawks (1-7, 1-0 American East) 17-16 in overtime with sophomore attack Jake Tomsik scoring the game winning goal, as well as netting the game tying goal in regulation.

The game was not all good news for Tomsik throughout, however, as those two goals were his only two on the game. Tomsik is leading the Bobcat’s in goals with 22, and points with 30, but it seemed he was having an off game. Through the first 58 minutes he had only one assist.

“It was not as much Hartford shutting me down, I think,” Tomsik said. “ Our team is back, our whole team, our seniors. There were a lot more guys getting more looks and I was just trying my best to play my role, not trying to be selfish and letting the game come to me.”

The best time for Tomsik to break out of the slump was at the end. With less than two minutes left in regulation Tomsik would score wide open to tie the game up 16 apiece. The game went to overtime tied, where Tomsik beat his defender and scored the game winner less than three minutes into the period.

“Brett DiSalvo took a shot, from the top, thought it was going to go,” Tomsik said. “It did not, I picked it off the end line and I knew I could beat that defenseman so I went right to the net.”

Throughout the game, the two main players that showed out for the Bobcat’s were senior attacks Foster Cuomo and Mike Fletcher. Fletcher was both facilitating the offense, tallying four assists, and scoring as well, with five goals.

Cuomo had one of his best game performances of his career as he scored a career high seven goals and added on three assists to have 10 points total. That incuded a possible SportsCenter top 10 play where from far out made a one-handed under hand shot.

“I don’t think you come in expecting to put up points,” Cuomo said. “I think you come in expecting to capitalize when you get the chance. With the offense we have, you are always going to get chances. Right place, right time and just capitalizing.”

The Hawks outshot the Bobcats, 51-43, had more ground balls (38-32). They won more faceoffs, 19-18 and had less turnovers (8-12) than the Bobcats. Alex Borja scored six goals for the Hawks as well.

“Hartford’s a phenomenal team,” interim head coach Mason Poli said. “They have a lot of good midfielders. Real shifty guys. They were able to fight back, but again our resiliency to lose those leads, go down in the end and be able to pull it out is amazing.”

With MAAC play ramping up, this out of conference overtime win can be a big boost for a Bobcat team that is looking to make a run in the regular season as well as in the MAAC tournament.

“It show’s a lot of maturity,” Poli said. “To be down, especially with two minutes left in the fourth, make a big stop defensively, and go down and be able to put that away. It show’s they are understanding the overall picture and to be able to keep calm in those situations and not over react. I think it is going to be good for us moving on.”

This Bobcats’ team has now won four games in a row after losing their first three. From the players perspective, Quinnipiac seems to think it can keep to its winning ways with its high powered offensive attack.

“It’s one of the most deep teams I’ve seen since I have been here,” Cuomo said. “[Jake Tomsik] has been making an impact since his freshman year, [Mike Fletcher] stepping up huge last year. Our offense is so dynamic, it’s really hard for a defense to cut one guy because everyone can do something. It’s awesome for our offense.”

Quinnipiac will play host to the Saint Bonaventure Bonnies (0-5, 0-3 MAAC) in a MAAC regular season game on Saturday, March 23 at 12 p.m.

Follow @Q30Sports