ROME -- The Hawks held off the ThunderWolves of Colorado State - Pueblo Thursday afternoon, 13-9, to earn their third win of the season.

Alex Malinowski got things going for Shorter, turning the first goal of the day with 12:23 to play in the opening quarter and added a second in the frame on a pass from Matt Kristiansen with 2:57 remaining to give the Hawks a 2-0 lead going into the second frame.

Kristiansen tallied a goal of his own to open the second quarter, as he found the back of the net with 12:53 to play in the half. Moments later CSU-Pueblo broke the scoreless streak, as Jamil Modaffari netted their first goal of the afternoon. Only to have Kristiansen follow with back-to-back scores to bring Shorter's advantage to 5-1 with 9:01 remaining. Over the final minutes, Stephan Stanfill and Kristiansen combined for three goals to move the Hawks lead to 8-1 at halftime.

In the third period, both teams added three goals to make it an 11-4 game at the start of the fourth quarter. Malinowski started things off with his third goal of the game, and Michael Williams followed with his first goal of the season with 11:21 to play and after two scores from the ThunderWolves, Kristiansen posted his sixth of the game on a pass from Zachery Dirkse. Nick Matzek found the back of the net for CSU-Pueblo just before time expired for the 11-4 score.

The ThunderWolves opened the final period with three consecutive goals to move to within four points of the Hawks, 11-7, with 7:12 to play. Jordan Coates answered for Shorter with 6:46 on the clock for his first goal of the year to bring the lead to five, before Kristiansen tallied a seventh goal for the game with 4:32 remaining. CSU-Pueblo closed out the game with two final goals for the 13-9 score.

All told, the Hawks outshot the ThunderWolves 49-41; while the visitors held a 33-25 advantage in shots on the goal. The difference, however, was made as Shorter goalie, Garry Robinson, posted what looks to be a new Shorter record 24 saves on the day. The Hawks also led in ground balls 34-25, and won 22 of 26 face-offs.

Individually, Kristiansen led with seven goals and three assists on the afternoon; while Joshua Skinner went 18-21 on face-offs and collected 12 ground balls. Chad Halili posted a 4-5 record in face-offs for the game. Both, Michael Santry and Williams, caused two turnovers each.

Shorter will look to keep the momentum going Tuesday, March 29, as they travel to Emmanuel College for the final road game of the year. Game time with the Lions is set for 7:00pm.