Utica, NY (4/12/12) – The Utica College men's lacrosse team returns home Saturday afternoon to host Empire 8 Conference foe and nationally ranked No. 11 Stevens Institute of Technology at 2 p.m.  The last time these two teams met, Stevens outscored the Pioneers 25-4. 

Game Time: Faceoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. on the turf at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium.

W2:  The Pioneers (7-4, 2-1 E8) are on a two game winning steak, coming off victories against Hartwick and Alfred… The Pioneers outscored their opponents 29-14… On the year, UC has outscored opponents by 25 goals, by outshooting them 431-389.

On Fire:  Junior Ben Winkler (Rodman, NY/IHC) posted a seven-point game, with six goals and one assist, last Saturday against Alfred… Winkler leads the conference with 42 goals, averaging 3.82 goals per game… Number 44 has a team-high 51 points on the season.

The Assists: Sophomore Joe Schoen (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) and junior Trent Thomas (Akwesasne, ONT/Massena) are ranked fourth and sixth for assists per game in the E8… Schoen has 16 assists through nine games, while Thomas has 18 through 11 games… Thomas and Schoen fall in second and third in points for the pioneers with 36 and 27… Scott Baron (Flemington, NJ/Cushing Academy) is just behind with 10 assists on the team.

Career Seasons: With five regular season games left and only one win shy of tying the school-record for wins in a single-season, multiple upperclassmen are having their best seasons to date… A few that stick out are, Winkler who has 18 more points this year than his two previous years combined, while second-year attack Joe Schoen (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) has 20 more points than his freshman campaign… Junior Justin Edelstein (Hartsdale, NY/Harvey School) has 11 more goals than he had in his first two years combined… Senior Oliver Barney (Vestal, NY/Vestal) already has two more points than his first three seasons combined.

Defense: Utica College leads the E8 with 166 caused turnovers, 43 better than the runner-up Stevens… Senior defenseman Mick Krajacic (Clay, NY/Cicero North Syracuse) leads the team with an average of 5.18 ground balls per game (57) and 46 caused turnovers... Sophomore Dan Duffy (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford), also sets the defensive tone with 30 ground balls and 13 caused turnovers.

Between the Pipes: Seniors Joe Davis (Vestal, NY/Vestal) and Wilson Mukrdechian (Watertown, NY/Watertown) account for Utica's seven wins… Joe Davis (Vestal, NY/Vestal) sits at third in the conference for saves per game with 10.14, totaling 71 saves on the season… Mukrdechian is in the top 10 sitting at 8, with 7.12 saves per game, totaling 57.

Stevens Ducks:  Stevens (9-2, 1-1 E8) is coming off a 15-12 loss against conference leader St. John Fisher, dropping from 7th to 11th in the national rankings…Junior midfielder Harrison Dorne tallied eight points in the loss, on five goals and three assists, while junior midfielder Rich Dupras, netted four and assisted three more for a total of seven…UC and Stevens split several categories; UC leads the conference in assists per game, penalty kill percentage, and caused turnovers, while the Ducks lead the conference in goals, points per game, and shots per game. 

Looking Ahead: Following what should be a great conference battle on Saturday, the Pioneers will travel to Ithaca to face the Bombers at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, April 18.  The Ducks will host Elmira College at 4 p.m. the same day.


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