Box Score Hamillton 12, Utica 11 (OT) - Box Score
Clinton, NY – The Utica College men's lacrosse team never gave in an evenly matched contest which featured seven ties, but host Hamilton College scored with 23 seconds to go in the first overtime period to help lift the host Continentals past the Pioneers, 12-11, in the second annual Contineer Cup Wednesday afternoon. Trailing by two with 4:05 left in regulation, the Pioneers rallied with a goal each from
Trent Thomas (Akwesasne, ONT/Massena) and
Justin Edelstein (Hartsdale, NY/Harvey School) to knot the score at 11-11 with 2:34 left in the fourth quarter. Hamilton's Jon Leanos scored with 23 seconds left in the first overtime to help Hamilton earn the victory.
Thomas netted a game-high six goals for Utica and the Pioneers (8-7, 3-3 Empire 8) now need to defeat host St. John Fisher College on Saturday
to clinch the fourth seed in the Empire 8 Conference tournament for the first time in program-history. The do-or-die match-up is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. at Growney Stadium in Pittsford, NY.
Junior
Ben Winkler (Rodman, NY/IHC), who entered the contest leading all of Division III men's lacrosse with an average of 3.71 goals per contest, added one tally and two assists for the Pioneers, while senior face-off man
Oliver Barney (Vestal, NY/Vestal) added two goals of his own.
Dan Duffy (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) scored the other Utica goal as
Joe Schoen (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) and
Scott Baron (Flemington, NJ/Cushing Academy) were each credited with an assist.
David Craig (Brewerton, NY/Paul V. Moore) and
Mick Krajacic (Clay, NY/Cicero North Syracuse) collected a game-high six ground balls and Barney won 11 face-offs. Krajacic caused three turnovers and
Joe Davis (Vestal, NY/Vestal) made a season-high 20 saves in goal for the Pioneers.
Hamilton had a good chance to score the game-winning goal when the Continentals received a man-up opportunity at 2:16 of the overtime period. But Utica was able to keep Hamilton off the board and the Pioneers regained possession with 1:25 left. Sadoff caused a Utica turnover with 44 seconds to play and later found Leanos at the other end for the game-winner.
Utica took its last lead at 5-4 when Duffy found the back of the net with 11:30 remaining in the second quarter. Hamilton scored three straight goals spanning the second and third quarters to open a 7-5 lead. Mullin scored with 8:21 left in the second quarter and Burchenal tallied with 1.4 seconds on the clock. Hill buried his first goal of the season at 9:08 of the third.
Barney and Thomas scored back-to-back man-up goals to tie the score at 7-7 with 6:52 remaining in the third. Sadoff found Burchenal with 4:27 left in the third and Hopper tallied an unassisted goal at 11:38 of the fourth to give the Continentals a 9-7 lead. The Pioneers stormed back with unassisted goals by Thomas and Winkler to even the score again with 7:13 left. Walsh scored Hamilton's next two goals, including a man-up tally with 4:05 on the clock to give the Continentals an 11-9 lead.
Hamilton held a 49-40 shot advantage, including a 3-0 edge in overtime. Utica scooped up 48 ground balls to the Continentals' 37.
It was the second overtime game between the two teams, and Hamilton leads the all-time series 12-1. The Continentals claimed the second annual Contineer Cup. Hamilton won the inaugural Contineer Cup 14-5 in 2011.
Hamilton (9-5 overall) won eight of its last nine games to finish the regular season. The Continentals are the No. 7 seed for the 2012 NESCAC Championship and will travel to No. 2 seed Trinity College for a quarterfinal on Saturday, April 28, at 1 p.m.
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