UTICA, NY – The Utica College men's lacrosse team is set for its home opener against visiting SUNY Polytechnic on Wednesday afternoon at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium. The contest is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.

All-Time in Home Openers: UC is 8-8 all-time in home openers at Gaetano Stadium … The Pioneers have won three of their last five home openers, with two of those wins coming against SUNY Poly in 2012 and 2014. 

All-Time Against SUNY Poly: UC is 8-0 all-time against SUNY Poly … The Pioneers have outscored the Wildcats 151-22 over the course of those eight meetings … Utica won four straight games against SUNY Poly from 2000-2003, then the two teams did not meet again until 2012, and the Pioneers have rattled off four straight wins since.  

Last Time Against SUNY Poly: The Pioneers did not allow a goal until the fourth quarter as it cruised to a 13-2 victory over host SUNY Poly on March 7, 2015 … Ryan Desveaux (Bowmanville, ONT/St. Stephen Catholic) led the way for the Pioneers with five goals, while classmate Nick Yelich (Lancaster, NY/Depew) chipped in with two scores of his own.

Good to Be Home: The Last time the Pioneers opened the season with three straight road games was back in 2010 … Utica is 9-7 on its home turf over the course of the last two seasons … The Pioneers are currently 0-3, with losses at the hands of St. Lawrence, Hamilton and SUNY Potsdam. 

Freshman Sensation: Freshman standout Dominic Castiglia (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) currently leads the team with six points on four goals and two assists … Castiglia came to UC from Liverpool High School and this past Summer he was the only player from Central New York to qualify for Team USA U19 indoor lacrosse team … As a member of team USA he participated in The World Games, September 11-13 in Six Nations, Ontario, Canada.

Distribution: Senior Alex Finnegan (Bay Shore, NY/Islip) leads the Pioneers with five assists this season and he is tied for the team-lead with six points … He also has eight ground balls and two caused turnovers to his credit … Finnegan posted one goal and a career-high three assists at Potsdam on Saturday.

Pure Scorer: Sophomore Ryan Desveaux (Bowmanville, ONT/St. Stephen Catholic) is tied with Castiglia for the team lead with four goals this season … He netted two goals against St. Lawrence and two against Potsdam … He finished his freshman campaign tied for fourth on the team with 15 goals last year. 

Protecting the Net: Senior goalie Andrew DiOrio (Greenlawn, NY/Harborfields) currently ranks third in the Empire 8 Conference with an average of 11.67 saves per game … He has 35 total saves over the course of three games … He currently ranks second all-time at UC with 15 career victories … He now has 396 career saves and needs four more to become just the fourth goalie in program-history to record over 400 saves in a career.

Meet SUNY Poly: SUNY Poly currently holds a 1-3 overall record … The Wildcat's lone win of the season came against Regis (Mass.) and they have lost to Alfred, Oswego State and Goucher … They are led by senior attack Neil Nembhard who has eight points this season on four goals and four assists … Senior classmate Nicholas Levanto ranks second on the team with six points on four goals and two assists.

Defense and Face-Offs: Utica's Tyler Nicolaus (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) and Rusty Dessert (Islip, NY/Islip) lead the team with six caused turnovers each this season … Dessert also has seven ground balls … Utica's John Hanlon (Coconut Creek, FL/St. John Paul Academy) and Mitch Sobilo (Hamburg, NY/Hamburg) have split time at the face-off x this season … Sobilo has won 12-of-30 face-off's (.400) while Hanlon has won 14-of-40 (.350).

Social Media: Make sure to follow live updates of the game on the Pioneers official Twitter feed: @UCPioneers… If you are at the game and on Twitter, or talking about the game on Twitter, make sure to use #UCMoose… You can also "Like" the Pioneers on Facebook at www.facebook.com/UCpioneers ... Fans can also follow the Pioneers on Instagram: UCPioneers.

Pioneers All-Access: Make sure to catch live video, audio and stats on Pioneers All-Access: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/utica/ … Audio for select contests is provided by WPNR 90.7 FM.
 
Looking Ahead: The Pioneers hit the road on Saturday when they travel to Falls Church, Virginia to take on SUNY Brockport at J.E.B. Stuart High School … The game is scheduled for 10:30 a.m.