2013 Utica Men's Lacrosse Schedule

Utica, NY (2/26/2013) - The Utica College men's lacrosse team opens up its 2013 campaign on the road Wednesday against cross-town rival SUNYIT at 5 p.m.  The Pioneers are coming off one of their most successful seasons in program-history after tying the school's single season mark for wins (8-8) in 2012. 

Last Season: As a team the Pioneers set a new program record for points in a single-season with 318 (187 goals, 131 assists) …
All-Time Against SUNYIT: The Pioneers look to extend their winning streak against the Wildcats to six … Utica won the first four contests between the local foes (2000-2003), before dropping the Wildcats 18-1 last season ... UC has outscored SUNYIT by 89 goals (103-14) in five previous meetings.

Opening Day: Utica is 6-7 all time on opening day and looks to stretch its season-opening win streak to three games, after beating Cazenovia and SUNYIT in each of the last two openers.

Winkler Leads the Way:  UC's senior class features two stand outs, including the team's leading scorer from a year ago – Ben Winkler (Rodman, NY/IHC) … Winkler joined elite company last season as he became just the fifth player in program-history to earn a spot on either of the Empire 8 All-Conference Teams (1st or 2nd) … Winkler had a breakout year as he set the College's single-season marks for points in a season (67) and goals (53) … Winkler finished the regular season ranked sixth in the country with an average of 3.31 goals per contest and he also ranked 25th in all of Division III men's lacrosse with 4.19 points per game … Winkler became the first player in school-history to break the 50 goal barrier and he also became the seventh player in school-history to join the 100 point club … Headed into his senior season he ranks seventh all-time with 106 career points (83 goals, 23 assists) … His 83 goals also ranks third on the College's all-time list behind Matt Donaldson (165) and Michael Bulger (123).


Schoen Bros. Lacrosse: The junior class will be led by Joe Schoen (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro), who comes from a long line of Schoen brothers that have play lacrosse at Utica College (Ben Schoen '04, Steve Schoen '07) …   Joe Schoen (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) finished last year ranked third on the team with 35 points (16 goals, 19 assists) … He also scooped up 14 ground balls and caused six turnovers in 14 games played … Over the course of two years he has totaled 19 goals and 28 assists in 28 games played.

Strong Junior Class: The Pioneers are a junior-heavy squad, with 14 student-athletes playing in their junior seasons (four transfers) … Juniors Fred Del Genio (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford), David Craig (Brewerton, NY/Paul V. Moore), Joe Schoen (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro), Scott Baron (Flemington, NJ/Cushing Academy) and transfer Adam Zielenski (Holland Patent, NY/Mohawk Valley CC) will patrol the midfield, while classmates Steve Dowd (Cohoes, NY/Shaker), TJ Benson (Central Square, NY/Paul V. Moore) and transfer Andrew Jamieson (Six Nations, ON/Hagersville) will see the majority of their time around the net at attack … Juniors Dan Duffy (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford), Bryan Habick (Brielle, N.J./Bellarmine University), Matt Wellington (Stony Point, NY/North Rockland), Josh Torrey (Westmoreland, NH/Monadnock) and transfer Joe Vacca (Geneva, NY/Herkimer CCC) will protect the Pioneers defensive end and transfer Cory Spisak (Lisle, NY/Tompkins Cortland CC) will compete for time in between the pipes … Scott Baron (Flemington, NJ/Cushing Academy) has netted nine goals in each of his last two seasons and he has also totaled 23 assists for a career total of 41 points … TJ Benson (Central Square, NY/Paul V. Moore) has a knack for the goal after netting 11 and 12 goals, respectively in his freshman and sophomore campaigns … David Craig (Brewerton, NY/Paul V. Moore) is coming off an excellent off season in the weight room and will also be a major contributor after totaling 17 points in his first two years at UC … Del Genio has played in 29 games over the course of the last two years … Dan Duffy (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) returns as the Pioneers most experienced defender after playing in 31 games and recording 67 ground balls and 51 caused turnovers under the tutelage of former UC All-American Mick Krajacic (Clay, NY/Cicero North Syracuse) '12 who graduated last Spring … Vacca comes to Utica after earning 2012 Mountain Valley All Conference status last season at Herkimer County Community College. 

Between the Pipes:  The position of starting goalie is a wide open race with three talented newcomers vying for the lead role … Trey Adams (Hogansburg, NY/Brewster Academy), from Brewster Academy, was selected to the Iroquois U-19 National Lacrosse Team last summer … Junior Cory Spisak (Lisle, NY/Tompkins Cortland CC) transferred in from Tomkins Cortland Community College where he played in 17 games and recorded 217 saves last year … Andrew DiOrio (Greenlawn, NY/CW Post) was a member of the lacrosse team at C.W. Post last season after playing three years of varsity lacrosse at Harborfields, where he made 155 saves and recorded a 5.35 goals against average.

Sophomore Laden Defense: Sophomores Matt Werkmeister (Chaska, MN/Chaska), Tom Bryne, Sean Behan (Dewitt, NY/Jamesville-Dewitt) and Sean Flanagan (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) will provide great competition and depth in the Pioneers' defensive unit …  Werkmeister has the most collegiate experience in the bunch after starting ten games last year as a freshman … Bryne also saw two starts and played in 12 games, while Flanagan and Behan each caught action in 12 and 10 games, respectively … Sophomore midfielders Zack Stevenson (Elbridge, NY/Jordan-Elbridge), Codey Staulters (Ballston Spa, NY/Ballston Spa) and Josh Sommers (Singerlands, NY/Guilderland) will see increased action with one full year under their belts … Stevenson might be the most game-ready of the bunch, having tallied eight points (five goals) as a freshman. 

Newcomers: Freshman Liam Wheatley (Rochester, NY/Webster Schroeder), Alex Finnegan (Bay Shore, NY/Islip), Jeff Pierce (Clinton, NY/Clinton), Brandon Souza (Watervliet, NY/Shaker) and Mike Wells (Camillus, NY/West Genesee) will all be competing for time on the field as well -- and maybe most importantly -- these hard working freshmen will help to maintain a culture of competitiveness throughout the entire season. 

Hogansburg Connection:  The Pioneers have four newcomers who originally hail from Hogansburg, NY … Freshman defender Korin Sunday (Hogansburg, NY/Salmon River) and freshman Corey Thompson (Akwesasne/Salmon River) both played their high school lax at Salmon River, while Trey Adams (Hogansburg, NY/Brewster Academy) and Trent Jacobs (Akwesasne/Brewster Academy) both attended Brewster Academy.