Utica, NY – The Utica College men's soccer team lost a close game on the road, 4-3, in their Empire 8 matchup against Stevens Institute of Technology on Saturday.
 
Halfway through the first half, Stevens took a 1-0 lead as Daniel Aversano scored his second goal of the season. Soon after Stevens went up 2-0 scoring on a corner kick. A few minutes later, Utica's Bita Gazashvili (Tiblisi, Georgia) scored his team-high fourth goal of the season after a pass from Connor Nolte (Cohoes, NY/Shaker). Stevens then was able to close out the first half with one more goal making the score 3-1 going into halftime.
 
Early on into the second half Owen Gillam (Bristol, CT/Bristol) stepped up and scored his third goal of the season on a penalty kick attempt to make the score 3-2. Stevens answered a few moments later as the score became 4-2. Thomas Muller (Camillus, NY/Bishop Ludden) then netted his second goal of the season off of an assist from Bita Gazashvili (Tiblisi, Georgia) in the final minute of the game making the final score 4-3.
 
Owen Gillam (Bristol, CT/Bristol) has now scored in two consecutive games for the Pioneers and is now second on the team in goals. Bita Gazashvili (Tiblisi, Georgia) leads the team in goals, assists, and total points after he tallied a goal and one assist in today's game. Connor Nolte (Cohoes, NY/Shaker) recorded his first assist of the season. Goalkeeper Austin Diller tied his season-high in saves with a total of seven.

The Pioneers are now 2-9 overall and hold a 1-3 record in Empire 8 play.  Stevens improved to 6-4-1 on the season and 3-1 in the Empire 8.
 
The Pioneers will be back at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium on October 12^th, as they host Hamilton College in a non-conference contest. The game is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m.