UTICA, NY – The Utica College men's lacrosse team opens up the season on the road on Sunday as the Pioneers take on St. Lawrence University at SUNY Potsdam. The game is scheduled for 1 p.m. The contest was originally scheduled to be played at St. Lawrence but due to field conditions the game will now be played at SUNY Potsdam. 
 
Season Openers: The Pioneers are at .500 (8-8) in season openers over the course of the last 16 seasons … The Pioneers have won four straight season opening contests on two different occasions since the year 2000 … This season UC looks to start a new streak after losing last year's opener against St. Lawrence at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium.
 
Second Year In A Row: Sunday will be the second straight year that UC has met St. Lawrence for a season opener … Sunday's game also marks the second time in program-history that the Pioneers and the Saints will square off … St. Lawrence won last year's matchup 11-4.
 
Four Straight Years: The Pioneers posted eight victories last season as they finished with a final record of .500 or better for the fourth straight year … Last year also marked the seventh time in program-history that UC has finished the season with eight or more wins … Three wins in the Empire 8 were tied for the second-most conference victories in program-history … The Pioneers were 4-5 at home and 4-3 on the road while posting 135 goals on the season.
 
Back to The Conference Tournament: UC looks to return to the Empire 8 Conference Tournament for the second time in program-history after making an appearance in 2013 … The 9-7 record in 2013 is also a program record for wins in a season.
 
Between The Pipes: Utica returns Andrew DiOrio (Greenlawn, NY/Harborfields) to the crease this season … DiOrio played in and started 16 games last year and registered a 8.26 goals against average … He tallied 147 saves and had a 8-8 overall record … He tallied 10 or more saves in seven games including a season high of 23 saves against Stevens … He allowed eight or less goals in nine games including three games where he didn't allow a goal … Junior Parker Smith (Dexter, NY/General Brown) also returns to the team along with two freshmen net minders, Harrison Bower (Northport, NY/Kings Park) and Brad Schulman (Airmont, NY/Suffern).
 
Controlling The Midfield: Senior Liam Wheatley (Rochester, NY/Webster Schroeder) will guide the midfielders this season and will look to add more offensive production after scoring 18 points off of nine goals and nine assists last year … Fellow seniors Brandon Souza (Watervliet, NY/Shaker) and Mike Wells (Camillus, NY/West Genesee) return along with juniors Matthew Miller (Geneva, NY/Geneva) (team high 29 points off of 19 goals and 10 assists), Brickman House (Oneida, WI/Pulaski) (12 points off of seven goals and five assists), and Mitch Sobilo (Hamburg, NY/Hamburg) … Sophomore Brandon Tracz (Oswego, NY/Oswego) and freshmen Nick Finnegan (Bayshore, NY/Islip), Tyler Giachinta (Cold Spring, NY/Haldane), Duwanyne Matson (Oneida, WI/Oneida Nation), Dorkim Simeona (Roosevelt, NY/Roosevelt), Craig DiSanto (Montebello, NY/Suffern), Nicholas Horne (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna), Bob Zattola (Somers, NY/Somers), Noah Letourneau (Bristol, CT/Bristol Central), and John Hanlon (Coconut Creek, FL/St. John Paul Academy) will compete for time in the middle of the field … Hanlon is a face off specialist and will see a considerable amount of action at the face off "X" this season.
 
On The Attack: Seniors Alex Finnegan (Bay Shore, NY/Islip) (Team high 29 points off of 18 goals and 11 assists) and Patrick Mulligan (Commack, NY/Commack) (25 points off of 15 goals and 10 assists) return as the most experienced attackers this season … Sophomores Ryan Desveaux (Bowmanville, ONT/St. Stephen Catholic) (17 points off of 15 goals and two assists) and Nick Yelich (Lancaster, NY/Depew) (eight points off of five goals and three assists) headline a young group of attackers … Sophomore Patrick Dickson (West Palm Beach, FL/Cardinal Newman) and freshmen Tyler Fales (Batavia, NY/Batavia), Xavier Perron (Sherbrooke, Quebec/Le Triolet), and Dominic Castiglia (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) will add depth and battle for time at attack for the Pioneers.
 
Defensive Lineup: Matt Werkmeister (Chaska, MN/Chaska), who started all 16 games last season, is the veteran anchoring a Pioneer defense this season … Fellow senior Aric Freischlag (Wilson, NY/Wilson), who played in six games last year, joins Werkmeister as well as juniors Tyler Nicolaus (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) (12 games played in 2015), Ryan Jordan (Cicero, NY/Cicero North Syracuse) (eight games played, two games started in 2015), and Rusty Dessert (Islip, NY/Islip) (eight games played in 2015) … Sophomores Hunter Izyk (Oswego, NY/Oswego) and Anthony Thomas (Clinton, NY/Vernon Verona Sherrill) are joined by freshman Trevor Brady (Walpole, MA/Walpole) as the underclassmen on defense.
 
The Coaching Staff: Mike Parnell enters his 11^th season as the head coach of the men's lacrosse team … Parnell is a Utica College graduate who was one of the founding members of the varsity lacrosse program as a student-athlete … Parnell now has 65 victories under his belt as a head coach … Parnell is assisted by Brandon Misiaszek who joined UC in the summer of 2014, Sean Behan (Dewitt, NY/Jamesville-Dewitt) who graduated Utica in 2015 and played four years on the lacrosse team, and Gary Jackson who is in his fifth year with the Pioneers.
 
Meet The Saints: St. Lawrence is 1-0 after defeating Franklin and Marshall College 18-6 in its season opener on February 27 … The Saints went 9-8 overall with a 5-2 Liberty League record last year … St. Lawrence is led by Conor Healy who had a team high 70 points off of 31 goals and 39 assists last year and has a team high nine points off of five goals and four assists this year … Jeremy Vautour was third on the team last year with 50 points off of 30 goals and 20 assists and is second on the team this year with seven points off of six goals and one assist … In the net for the Saints is Ryan Fisher who played in eight games last year and is getting his first starting time for the St. Lawrence this year.
 
Looking Ahead: The Pioneers travel across town to take on Hamilton for the annual Contineer Cup on Wednesday (3/9/16) … The game is scheduled for 4 p.m.