APALACHIN, NY - The University of Hartford men's golf team overcame a nine-shot deficit to capture the 2007 America East Men's Golf Championship on Sunday afternoon at The Links of Hiawatha Landing.

Freshman Zack Ungvarsky drained a 25-foot birdie putt on the first hole of sudden-death playoff action against Binghamton to give the Hawks a dramatic victory. For the Hawks, the victory marked their 12th conference title and the second in as many years. Hartford and Binghamton finished the day with identical scores of 608, which forced the first playoff in the history of the league's event. Boston University rounded out the three-team men's field with a two-day total of 656.

The conference's playoff format is sudden-death, beginning on the first hole, and takes the top four scores from both five-member squads. Binghamton's was able to tally four pars on the first playoff hole, while Hartford had three ties and Ungvarsky's birdie, which proved to be the difference.

Hartford entered the final day trailing the first-place Bearcats by nine strokes, but was able to fight back to force the sudden-death playoff behind solid play from Ungvarsky and junior A.J. Oleksak. Ungvarsky shot a one-under par round of 71 to finish third overall at 149. The round was the best by a Hartford golfer for the weekend and a career low for the rookie. Oleksak shot 74 to finish at 147 and was the individual runner-up. Binghamton's Aaron Ungvarsky, brother of Zack, took medalist honors by four shots at 143.

Both Oleksak and Ungvarsky earned all-conference honors by virtue of their top-five finishes. Freshmen Nick MacDonald and Maki Kobayashi each finished tied for sixth at 156 while senior Dustin Wetherup rounded out the scoring at 165 and tied for 11th.

Hartford, which has won three tournament titles this season, will await word on whether it will earn one of three regional berths for the upcoming NCAA East Regional. The selection show will take place on Monday, May 7 at 6 p.m.