Still reeling from a tough loss to No. 1 Cornell on Saturday, the men’s lacrosse team took care of business against a weaker University of Hartford team last night. The Bulldogs (4-2, 0-2 Ivy) buried the Hawks (1-6), 18-3, in a one-sided contest, snapping Yale’s recent two-game skid and getting the Elis back on track as they prepare for a string of difficult contests in the next few weeks.

“We felt great about the win,” midfielder Davis Lindsey ’08 said. “We came back from a huge loss to Cornell and played as a team. Everyone played well and did all the little things right.”

Brendan Gibson ’10 opened things up for the Bulldogs with a pair of goals, and by the end of the first quarter, Yale held a commanding 9-1 lead. Four different Elis tallied goals as they outshot the Hawks, 17-5, in the period.

The second quarter belonged to Yale as well, as the Bulldogs outscored Hartford, 5-2, with goals from rookie Matt Fuchs ’10, Kyle Washabaugh ’08, Tyler Casterano ’08 and Mike Karwoski ’09. And it would prove to be the last gasp for the Hartford offense, which was held scoreless for the entire second half. The four goals that the Elis added after halftime were just icing on the cake in the 18-3 victory.

“This was a game that we knew we would win if we went out and played well,” Casertano said. “It was a really great team effort.”

The Hartford defense — one of the weakest the Bulldogs have faced all season — allowed eight different Elis to get on the board. Washabaugh led the team in scoring with four goals, and Karwoski and Gibson each recorded a hat trick. Captain Chris Kempner ’07 and Ben Fuchs ’07 had two apiece, while the younger Fuchs, Jonathan Koenig ’08, and Francis Johnson ’09 each added a goal. On the other end of the field, goalies George Carafides ’08 and Joe Costa ’08 recorded just five and four saves, respectively, to get the win, since the Elis outshot the Hawks, 45-21.

The lopsided game also gave head coach Andy Shay an opportunity to dip deeper into the roster for substitutes. Every player who made the trip to Hartford got a chance to play.

“A lot of kids saw a lot of time [yesterday] and showed some great potential for the future, so that was one of the great things to take away from the game,” Casertano said. “We really saw some of the younger guys step up.”

Matt Fuchs, who has seen a good deal of playing time recently, notched his first collegiate goal. Teammate Jerome Arnold ’10 made his first start at midfield, adding an assist to the team’s efforts. Midfielder Greg Duboff ’08 — who won 13 of 16 faceoffs yesterday and had taken every single faceoff prior to the game — was also given a break so that Kevin Discepolo ’09 and Max Rodman ’10 could get their feet wet in the position.

Although the Elis entered the game as the favorites, the win was still important, as it helped to erase memories of sloppy play against Cornell and boost team morale. The squad worked to improve at communicating and picking up ground balls, two areas of their game that will be crucial as they face No. 8 Princeton this weekend.

“[Last night] was definitely about us and how well we could execute the things we wanted to do,” Carafides said. “You can go out there and play good enough just to beat a team [like Hartford], or you can go out there and play to get better, which is what we did.”