UTICA, NY- The Utica College men's lacrosse team returns home Wednesday to take on nationally-ranked No. 14 Ithaca College in Empire 8 conference play. Game time at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium is set for 4 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT: The Pioneers are returning home after an 11-3 loss to Richard Stockton on Saturday in New Jersey…
Patrick Mulligan (Commack, NY/Commack),
Zack Stevenson (Elbridge, NY/Jordan-Elbridge) and
Jeff Pierce (Clinton, NY/Clinton) were the only players to find the back of the net for the Pioneers... Senior goalie
Andrew DiOrio (Greenlawn, NY/Harborfields) made seven saves for the Pioneers while defenders
Tom Byrne (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) and
Sean Flanagan (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) combined for eight ground balls and five caused turnovers.
CAUSING CHAOS: Utica ranks second in the conference in caused turnovers with an average of 10.40 per game... Seniors
Tom Byrne (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster),
Sean Flanagan (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) and
Matt Werkmeister (Chaska, MN/Chaska) lead the team in caused turnovers with 26, 15 and 14 respectively... Byrne also leads the team in ground balls (50) while classmates
Zack Stevenson (Elbridge, NY/Jordan-Elbridge) and
Andrew DiOrio (Greenlawn, NY/Harborfields) trail just behind him with 29 and 22, respectively.
200 CLUB: Byrne recently became the sixth player in program history to collect over 200 ground balls in his career... He is sixth all-time at UC with 226 career ground balls and needs only three more to surpass former All-American Mick Krajacic '12 for fifth place on the College's all-time list… Classmate
Zack Stevenson (Elbridge, NY/Jordan-Elbridge) recently accomplished the milestone as he picked up three ground balls at Richard Stockton.
BETWEEN THE PIPES: DiOrio occupies the number three spot on the College's all-time wins list (13), he needs two more to pass Travis Wright '10 for second place all-time… His 295 career saves rank fourth all-time at UC.
SCOUTING ITHACA: The nationally ranked No. 14 Ithaca College Bombers are currently 8-3 overall and 3-0 in the conference... Ithaca is led by Jack Shumway and John Januszkiewicz who have combined for 73 points... Just behind them in the points category are James Manilla (30) and Jake Cotton (24)… The Bombers are 2-2 on the road so far this season... Ithaca has dominated every meeting between the two teams since 2010 when UC earned a 9-5 victory.
LOOKING AHEAD: After the matchup with the Bombers, Utica will return to the field to host Alfred University on Saturday. Game time against the Saxons is scheduled for 4 p.m.
