UTICA, NY (March 11, 2009) – The Hamilton College men's lacrosse team led the entire way and fended off a late rally from Utica College on its way to a 10-8 victory on the turf at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium Wednesday. The Continentals earned a commanding 10-5 lead with 2:56 to go in the contest but the Pioneers threatened with three goals in the final 1:11 of play. It proved to be too late as the clock expired on UC and Hamilton extended its win streak against the Pioneers to eight games.

The Continentals (2-0) are now 9-1 in ten meetings all-time against the Pioneers. The last time UC (0-2) beat Hamilton was in a 10-8 victory at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium on March 28, 2001. Hamilton has outscored UC 99-57 over the course of eight straight victories.

Hamilton jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first 8:27 of play behind goals from Kevin Coughlin, Andy Simon and Jon Leanos. UC's lone goal of the first quarter came from the stick of team leading scorer Micheal Bulger, unassisted, to cut Hamilton's lead to 3-1 with 5:33 remaining.

Hamilton extended its lead to back to three goals, 4-1, when Leanos netted his second goal of the evening just 25 seconds into the second quarter. UC was able to muster two goals in the second quarter and cut the lead to just one, 4-3, after junior David O'Connell netted a breakaway goal with one second left on the first half clock. The goal came after UC killed off two straight penalties and senior goalie Travis Wright made several great saves.

The third quarter was all Hamilton as they outscored UC 5-0 to take a 9-3 lead. Luke Sadoff netted the first and last goals of the quarter, while Austin Deyo, Franke Holiber and Paul Citarella each netted goals as well. Hamilton outshot UC 14-5 in the third quarter and the Pioneers turned the ball over eight times.

The Pioneers outscored the Continentals 5-1 in the fourth quarter to make it a tight game. Michael Bulger tallied two of his game-high four goals in the fourth, while Tom Collins, John Giordano and Aaron Benoit each added goals to help the Pioneers crawl back to within two, 10-8, as time expired.

Leonos also added a fourth quarter goal to complete his hat-trick. He registered two assists for a total of five points on the day. Coughlin notched three points on one goal and two assists, while Sadoff finished the day with two goals.

Bulger totaled five points on four goals and one assist for UC. After Wednesday's performance he now has 57 career goals which ranks sixth on the College's all-time scoring list. Collins added one goal and one assist, while David O'Connell tallied three points on one goal and two assists.

Travis Wright stopped 16 shots and scooped up four ground balls for the Pioneers, while Max Vaickus stopped ten shots in his second win of the season for the Continentals.

Both teams combined for 15 penalties (Hamilton – 7, 6:30/Utica – 8, 6:30) resulting in four man-up goals for Utica and two man-up goals for Hamilton. Hamilton earned a 27-19 ground ball advantage and won 12-of-19 face-offs on the day.

The Pioneers return to action Saturday when they travel to Misericordia University. The contest is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. Hamilton travels to Sanford, FL next week to take on McDaniel College at 11:00 a.m.

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