ROME -- The Hawks made the most of their 2016 debut, topping Reinhardt 9-5 in the front of the home crowd Friday evening.

The Eagles got on the board first as Jeff Mathis found the back of the net at the 9:13 mark of the first quarter, and added to it with a last second goal in the frame to take a 2-0 lead into the second quarter.

The second quarter, however, was all Shorter as the Hawks tallied five unanswered goals to take the lead. Matt Kristiansen got things going with his first goal of the season with 11:41 to play, and followed it up with a score at the 6:03 mark on a pass from Jordan Getz. Seconds later Aswan Bland gave Shorter the lead when he notched his first goal as a member of the Hawks. And, in the final minute of the quarter Kristiansen and Getz went back to back to make it a 5-2 game.

Reinhardt (1-1) answered with a score of their own to cut into the lead, but the Hawks were there with the counter as Alex Malinowski and James VandenBrink each netted goals for Shorter to bring the lead to 7-3 with 7:39 to play in the third. Before time ran out in the frame, both teams added a goal to move into the final fifteen minutes with an 8-4 score, the Hawks goal came with 26 second to go from Zachery Dirkse.

In the fourth quarter, Getz gave the Hawks a five point lead when he netted Shorter's final goal of the night with 13:13 to go. Kevon James closed out the scoring for Reinhardt with a goal midway through the frame for the 9-5 final score.

In total the Hawks outshot the Eagles 30-25, and held an 18-15 advantage in shots on goal. Shorter also led in groundball pickups with 37 to Reinhardt's 28, while the Eagles tallied nine faceoff wins to Shorter's eight.

Garry Robinson played the complete game in goal for the Hawks, tallying 10 saves on the night to earn the win.

Shorter will be back in action next Saturday, February 13, when they travel to Boca Raton, Florida to take on Lynn University. Game time is set for 2:00pm.