UTICA, NY - The Utica College football team continues to display a rapid pace of development for a second-year program, suffering only a 13-0 setback at home to Division III powerhouse Ithaca College, a team who beat the Pioneers by a 66-0 score just a year ago.

A tough, relentless Utica defense allowed a talented Bomber's offense to find the end zone only twice on the day. Ithaca scored its first touchdown on a 16-yard Michael Marks reception from quarterback Ryan Steenberg with a minute remaining in the first quarter. The bombers would go on to score their only other touchdown of the game with five minutes remaining in the third quarter on a seven-yard run by running back Pete Celebre.

UC's only touchdown of the game, a 36-yard pass from junior quarterback Adam Luciano (Mechanicville, NY/Mechanicville) to freshman receiver Matthew Connors (Pleasant Valley, NY/Arlington) at the 14:49 mark of the fourth quarter, was called back because of a false start penalty charged against the Pioneers.

Ithaca managed 281 total yards of offense, comprised primarily of a 32-carry, 179-yard performance by Celebre. The Utica offensive unit posted 185 yards of total offense on an even attack, netting 93 yards in the air and 92 yards on the ground.

Utica's defense proved to be the backbone of the team on this day, forcing five fumbles (recovering four) and intercepting a pass over 47:39 of work. Leading UC defensively was junior linebacker Anthony Venturino (Utica, NY/DeSales) with 17 tackles (10 solo), including three for a loss of 15 yards, one fumble recovery and one sack for a loss of eight yards. Junior linebacker Jason Colunio (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua) had 17 tackles (10 solo), including two for losses, while senior linebacker Michael Romandetti (Wallkill, NY/Wallkill) tallied nine tackles (7 solo), a sack and a fumble recovery. Senior defensive end Kenneth McCann (West Seneca, NY/Orchard Park) produced one of the biggest plays of the day for UC, returning a Steenberg fumble for 55 yards nine minutes into the fourth quarter.

The Pioneers' offensive efforts were highlighted by Luciano, who completed 10 of 28 pass attempts for 92 yards and one interception while being sacked five times. On the receiving end of a majority of Luciano's passes were freshman Jason Brinson (Rochester, NY/Spencerport), who grabbed three passes for 54 yards, including a 46-yard bomb, and Connors, who caught four tosses for 50 yards. Freshman running back David Hogan (Concord, NH/Concord) led the UC ground game with 67 total yards on 16 carries for an average of 4.2 yards per carry.

Utica College travels to Cortland State for its next match on Saturday, November 2, at 1:00 p.m.

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