UTICA, NY – The Utica College men's lacrosse team lost to nationally-ranked No. 14 Ithaca College 12-5 in Empire 8 Conference action on Wednesday afternoon at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium.  Utica's Matthew Miller (Geneva, NY/Geneva) led the Pioneers with three points on one goal and two assists while Patrick Mulligan (Commack, NY/Commack) added a team-best two goals of his own.

The Pioneers are now 6-5 overall and 1-2 in Empire 8 play and they will look to snap a three game skid on Saturday when they host Alfred University in conference play at 4 p.m. Ithaca has won six of its last seven games and moved its record to 9-3 overall and 4-0 in the Empire 8.

The Bombers were led by five goals and two assists from leading scorer Jack Schumway.  James Manilla added four points on one goal and three assists for the visitors. 

Utica's Patrick Mulligan (Commack, NY/Commack) netted the first goal of the game to give the Pioneers an early 1-0 lead at the 12:47 ledger of the first quarter.  Freshman Ryan Desveaux (Bowmanville, ONT/St. Stephen Catholic) registered an assist, the first of his collegiate career, on the Pioneers' opening goal. Ithaca answered with four of the next five goals to take a 4-2 lead after one full quarter of action.  Matthew Miller (Geneva, NY/Geneva) scored the Pioneers second first period goal, his 12^th of the season. 

Each team registered one goal in the second quarter and the Bombers held a 5-3 lead as the halftime horn sounded.  Utica junior Jeff Pierce (Clinton, NY/Clinton) tallied the second quarter goal for the Pioneers.

Ithaca began to pull away in the third quarter by outscoring the Pioneers 4-1 in the 15 minute stretch.  Utica's only third quarter goal was scored by Mulligan and assisted by Miller.

The Bombers secured the victory by outscoring UC 3-1 in the final 15 minutes of action. Alex Finnegan (Bay Shore, NY/Islip) netted his ninth goal of the season with 4:06 remaining in regulation to close out the scoring for the Pioneers.

Ithaca's John Januszkiewicz tallied two goals and one assist on the day while Sean Ferrito also added two goals and one assist.

Ithaca outshot UC 33-18 on the day and also earned a 23-19 advantage in the ground ball category.

Senior goalie Andrew DiOrio (Greenlawn, NY/CW Post) stopped 11 shots in net for Utica and he also picked up a team-best five ground balls. Senior defender Tom Byrne (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) added three ground balls and three caused turnovers for the Pioneers while classmate Sean Flanagan (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) added three ground balls and two caused turnovers.

Matt Greenblatt went 12-for-17 on face-off opportunities for the Bombers and he also picked up six ground balls.