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Utica, NY – The Utica College men's lacrosse team (1-4) will travel to Hoboken, New Jersey Saturday to open up Empire 8 Conference play against nationally ranked No. 6 Stevens Institute of Technology (7-0) at 4 p.m. Utica is coming off a tough loss to local rival Hamilton College (14-5) and will face a Stevens team that jumped five spots in the latest United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Coaches Poll, marking the program's highest-ever ranking.
The Pioneers started the season with a win against Cazenovia but have lost four in a row since. The Ducks, however, have won seven in a row and outscored opponents 108-51 during that span. Despite having lost four in a row, the Pioneers are still keeping things close, losing two games by three goals or less, including a 5-4 overtime loss to Vassar on March 19th.
UC's defensive unit has held its' opponents to nine goals or less in three out of five games this year. They are led by captains
Mick Krajacic (Clay, NY/Cicero North Syracuse) and
Matthew Crouse (Syracuse, NY/Corcoran). Krajacic, who was a pre-season All-American, has a team-high 22 caused turnovers to go along 18 ground balls. Crouse leads the way with 28 ground balls.
The Pioneers are led by sophomore midfielder
Ben Winkler (Rodman, NY/IHC), who has a team nine points (five goals and four assists), through five games. Other key players are junior mid-fielder
Oliver Barney (Vestal, NY/Vestal) (five goals and three assists), senior mid-fielder
Michael Schepis (Watertown, NY/IHC) (four goals and three assists), freshman attacker
Scott Baron (Flemington, NJ/Cushing Academy) (three goals and three assists) and sophomore mid-fielder
Justin Edelstein (Hartsdale, NY/Harvey School) (three goals and three assists).
Stevens' senior Brandon Faubert has a team-high 25 goals and five assists. Junior Kevin Rose is second on the team in points with 14 goals and 15 assists. Senior Chris Laurita has also been a key contributor with his 27 points (18 goals and nine assists).
The Pioneers return home on March 30th when they take on SUNY Oswego. The game is set to start at 4 p.m.
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