UTICA, NY – The Hamilton College men's lacrosse team netted six fourth quarter goals to pull away as the Continentals retained the Contineer Cup with an 11-6 victory on Wednesday afternoon at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium.  The contest marked the fifth annual Contineer Cup rivalry game between the two central New York programs. 

Hamilton's Sam Sweet led the way with five points on three goals and two assists as the visitors won their third straight game.  The Continentals, who are receiving votes in the latest USILA National poll, improved to 3-1 overall on the year.  Utica's record dropped to 1-2 overall and the Pioneers will return to action on Saturday when they host Potsdam State at 3 p.m.

Liam Wheatley (Rochester, NY/Webster Schroeder) led the way for UC with three points on two goals and one assist. Matthew Miller (Geneva, NY/Geneva), Zack Stevenson (Elbridge, NY/Jordan-Elbridge) and Alex Finnegan (Bay Shore, NY/Islip) each recorded two points for the Pioneers.  Miller finished with a team-best two goals, while Stevenson added one goal, one assist and two caused turnovers.

Hamilton earned a 2-1 first quarter lead after goals from J.D. Brachman and Pax Anthos.  Both of the Continental goals were assisted by Sam Sweet.  Brachman finished the day with two goals and one assist.

UC knotted the score at 2-2 early in the second quarter when Miller netted his third of the season, off an assist from Wheatley.  Hamilton rallied with two goals before the half to take a 4-2 lead into the intermission.

The Pioneers came out of the gates hot in the second half and tied the score at 4-4 with a pair of goals from senior classmates Tom Byrne (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) and Zack Stevenson (Elbridge, NY/Jordan-Elbridge), just 1:26 apart.  Byrne, a long-stick defender, now has three career goals for the Pioneers.

UC preserved the 4-4 tie until Hamilton's Brian Bauersfeld broke the silence with his first goal of the season with 2:11 to go in the third quarter of the play to hand the visitors a 5-4 lead headed into the final 15 minutes of action.

The Continentals dominated the fourth quarter, outscoring Utica 6-2 down the stretch.  Two quick scores to open the quarter by Joe Ricciuti and Pat Donahoe extended the Hamilton lead to 7-4 with 11:24 remaining. 

Patrick Mulligan (Commack, NY/Commack) cut the Pioneer deficit to two goals with his second tally of the season at 8:44, but the Continentals had the answer as they put two more on the board in a stretch of 1:04 to take a 9-5 lead with 4:17 remaining.

Miller and Alex Finnegan (Bay Shore, NY/Islip) connected for a Pioneer goal with 3:00 left on the game clock but it proved too late as the visitors tallied two more goals in the final 2:34 of action to earn the five goal victory.

Utica goalie Andrew DiOrio (Greenlawn, NY/CW Post) made 10 saves in net and he also picked up four ground balls. Will Driscoll stopped nine shots for the Continentals.

Byrne picked up a team-best five ground balls for UC while Sellers Garrett led the visitors with five ground balls of his own.

Hamilton earned a 40-24 advantage in the shot column and also won 12-of-19 face-offs.