ELMIRA, NY (April 18, 2009) – The Utica College men's lacrosse team (8-5, 3-3 Empire 8) won its third straight game Saturday after a 15-11 victory over Empire 8 Conference rival Elmira College (1-10, 0-6 Empire 8). With the win the Pioneers tied a school-record for wins in a single season (eight). Michael Brodhead (Cicero North Syracuse/Cicero) led the way for UC with four goals and one assist, while Corey Boulio (IHC/Carthage) added four points on three assists and one goal.
UC established itself on offense and defense the entire contest, out-shooting Elmira 44-24 and scooping up 19 more ground balls than the Soaring Eagles (40-21). Utica College is now 4-5 all-time in nine meetings against Elmira. The Pioneers scored 11 goals in the second half against the Soaring Eagles, including seven goals in the final 10:28 of play. Aaron Benoit (Cazenovia/Cazenovia) netted three goals for UC and dished out one assist to tie for second on the team with four total points in the game.
Elmira jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first quarter after a pair of goals by Brad Levick at 11:04 and 10:20. UC answered quickly with a man-up goal by David O'Connell (Bishop Ludden/Syracuse) at 9:37 to cut the Soaring Eagles lead to one goal (2-1). Elmira proceeded to score the next two goals of the quarter to take a 4-1 lead on the Pioneers. Benoit answered for UC scoring his first of three goals at 6:05 in the first quarter to pull the Pioneers back within two goals (4-2).
Utica College dominated the second quarter of play, out-shooting Elmira 13-4 and outscoring the Soaring Eagles 2-0. Both of the UC goals came in the first minute of action in the second quarter with Mike Krajacic (Cicero North Syracuse/Clay) scoring at 14:35 and Aaron Benoit scoring his second of the game at 14:00. The Pioneers grounded the Soaring Eagles defensively in the second allowing just four shots and winning five of the six face-offs in the period.
The scoring picked back up in the third quarter as the Pioneers outscored the Soaring Eagles 4-3. Michael Brodhead scored the first two goals of the quarter at 12:53 and 12:15 to give UC a 6-4 lead. Elmira quickly answered scoring the next three goals of the game to take the lead, but they never really gained control of the game. Utica College closed out the quarter scoring two more goals, one by Corey Boulio at 7:06 and one by Tom Collins (West Genessee/Camillus) at 2:31, to take an 8-7 lead going into the final 15 minutes of play.
The fourth quarter belonged to Utica College. Michael Brodhead and Michael Bulger each pitched in with two goals in the period (Brodhead at 8:23 and 6:05/Bulger at 9:15 and 7:17) to help ensure the Pioneer victory. Tom Collins, David O'Connell and Aaron Benoit also scored in the seven-goal fourth quarter.
The Pioneers return to action on Wednesday April 22, against visiting RIT. The conference match up is scheduled for 4 p.m. on the turf at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium.
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