Utica, NY (March 3, 2014) - The Utica College men's lacrosse team looks to build off its record-setting success last season. This year's schedule features seven home games at Charles Gaetano Stadium, including the season-opener at 4 p.m. Thursday against local rival SUNYIT. The Pioneers first Empire 8 Conference game will be played at home on Saturday, March 22nd at 1 p.m. against Hartwick. Utica is coming off one of its most successful seasons in program-history after breaking the school's single season mark for wins (nine) in 2013.

Last Season Recap: The Pioneers went 9-7 overall and 4-3 in the conference … UC made its first appearance in the Empire 8 Conference Tournament by beating St. John Fisher 10-9 in double overtime in the season finale… In the Empire 8 semi-finals, the Pioneers were down one goal at the half (5-4) against top-seeded Nazareth College… The Golden Flyers pulled away in the second half, however, to win the game 15-7... The Pioneers were nationally–ranked third in caused turnovers (14.19), 35th in man-up offense percentage (0.327), and 48th in assists per game (6.81)... Junior Tom Byrne (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) was 18th in the country in caused turnovers per game (2.4) in his sophomore campaign.

Replacing Winkler & Edelstein: Utica is going to have to find scoring elsewhere this season after losing offensive power houses Ben Winkler (Rodman, NY/IHC) and Justin Edelstein (Hartsdale, NY/Harvey School)… Winkler was the leading scorer in each of the last three seasons, while Edelstein was fourth on the team in points (34) last year… Edelstein was always reliable in the fourth quarter with six career game-winning goals.

All-Conference Returners: A program-record six players for UC were named to the Empire 8 All-Conference Team last season … Returning to the Pioneers this Spring are four out of the six All-Conference players … Two defensemen, junior Tom Byrne (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) and senior Dan Duffy (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford), each locked up a spot on the Empire 8 second team as they led the Pioneers to national prominence in caused turnovers …  Junior defender Sean Flanagan (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) was named honorable mention after tallying 38 ground balls and 29 caused turnovers in 16 games …  Senior Joe Schoen (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) was named the Pioneers' representative on the Sportsman of the Year Team for the second consecutive season … His 29 assists ranks second on the school's single season list, just four shy of UC graduate Nate Jobson (33 in 2005).

Large Senior Class:  The Pioneers are a senior-heavy squad, with 13 student-athletes playing in their senior seasons … David Craig (Brewerton, NY/Paul V. Moore), Joe Schoen (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro), Scott Baron (Flemington, NJ/Cushing Academy) and 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 Andrew Jamieson (Six Nations, ON/Hagersville) will see the majority of their time around the net at attack … 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 Joe Vacca (Geneva, NY/Herkimer CCC) will protect the Pioneers defensive end and Cory Spisak (Lisle, NY/Tompkins Cortland CC) will see some time in between the pipes … Scott Baron (Flemington, NJ/Cushing Academy) has netted 28 goals in three seasons and he has also totaled 33 assists for a career total of 11 points … TJ Benson (Central Square, NY/Paul V. Moore) has a knack for the goal after netting 33 goals in his first three seasons … David Craig (Brewerton, NY/Paul V. Moore) is coming off a career-best season after totaling 14 points last season … He has 31 career points … Dan Duffy (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) returns as the Pioneers most-experienced defender creating 22 caused turnovers last season and picking up 37 ground balls … Vacca was named to the 2012 Mountain Valley All-Conference team two years ago at Herkimer County Community College and had two caused turnovers with two ground balls last season.

Newcomers to Watch: National Junior College All-American Christian Reiller (Salamanca, NY/Genesee CC) has joined the Pioneers this season as he looks to see a lot of playing time at the attack position … Reiller collected 96 points (48 goals, 48 assists) while leading Genesee Community College to an NJCAA Regional Championship Appearance … Another newcomer to watch is Ross Cree (Akwesasne/Salmon River ) who is looking to make a big impact for Utica at the midfield position.

Breaking Through: Last season's victory over St. John Fisher was the first time the Pioneers beat the Cardinals since 2007 … The last time UC beat Nazareth was an 11-9 win in 2008 … Ithaca has also given Utica trouble as the last win against the Bombers came in a 9-5 win in 2010 … The Pioneers have never beat Stevens since the two programs started playing in 2008.

Career Lists: Senior Joe Schoen (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) is currently tenth on the career points list at UC and needs 30 points this year to pass his brother Steve Schoen (2004-07) who is fifth all-time … He is third all-time in career assists and is trailing leader Nate Jobson (2002-05) by 21 … Dan Duffy (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) needs just 15 ground balls to break into the top 10 all-time and is currently second in caused turnovers for his career (73) … Zach Stevenson is fifth all-time in face-off percentage (0.525) and is looking to take the majority of the face-offs for UC this spring.

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