UTICA, NY – The Utica College men's lacrosse team hosts Empire 8 Conference opponent Stevens Institute of Technology on Wednesday as part of the USILA/HEADstrong Cancer Awareness Week. The game is scheduled to start at 4 p.m.

USILA/HEADstrong Cancer Awareness: The Pioneers will dawn the signature HEADstrong lime green cleat laces throughout the game to show their support for those fighting cancer … NCAA lacrosse teams across the country have banded together through the inaugural USILA/HEADstrong Foundation Cancer Awareness Week in an effort to raise funds and awareness for the fight against cancer … The landmark initiative takes place April 15 – 23, in which collegiate men's lacrosse teams nationwide are asked to make a statement on the playing field by pledging a game, raising funds and wearing HEADstrong awareness accessories in support of the cause … To date, 72 men's teams are participating in this initiative … To make a donation to the HEADstrong initiative please visit www.headstrong.org/donate

Last Time Out: Utica fell to visiting and nationally-ranked Nazareth 20-7 on Wednesday … UC had a 2-1 lead after the first quarter but the Golden Flyers would outscore the Pioneers 9-2 in the second quarter, 5-1 in the third quarter, and 5-2 in the fourth quarter.
 
Dominant Freshman:  Dominic Castiglia (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) leads the team with 34 points off of a team high 26 goals and eight assists … He is eighth in the conference in goals per game with 2.36 … He has scored at least one point in 10 of the 11 games this season and has had three or more points in five games this season … Castiglia is the first freshman since 2013 (Trent Jacobs 38 points off of 29 goals and nine assits) to score 30 points or more.
 
Double-Digit Scorers: UC has six players with more than 10 points on the season … Senior Alex Finnegan (Bay Shore, NY/Islip) is second on the team with 27 points off of eight goals and a team high 19 assists … Brickman House (Oneida, WI/Pulaski) is third on the team with 20 points off of 11 goals and nine assists while Ryan Desveaux (Bowmanville, ONT/St. Stephen Catholic) is fourth on the team with 18 points off of 14 goals and four assists … Matthew Miller (Geneva, NY/Geneva) has 16 points off of eight goals and eight assists while Nick Yelich (Lancaster, NY/Depew) rounds out the top six with 11 points off of five goals and six assists.
 
In The Net: Andrew DiOrio (Greenlawn, NY/Harborfields) and Parker Smith (Dexter, NY/General Brown) have both gotten starts in the net for Utica … DiOrio has 116 saves, a .468 save percentage, and a 16.00 goals against average … Smith has 14 saves, a .609 save percentage, and a 4.91 goals against average … DiOrio is second in the conference in saves per game (12.89) and 13^th in the conference is save percentage.
 
Leading The Defense: Rusty Dessert (Islip, NY/Islip) leads the team with 20 caused turnovers … Tyler Nicolaus (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) is second on the team with 19 caused turnovers while Matt Werkmeister (Chaska, MN/Chaska) is third on the team with 15 caused turnovers … Dessert is sixth in the conference in caused turnovers per game (1.82) while Nicolaus is seventh in the conference with 1.73 caused turnovers per game.
 
Scouting Stevens: The Ducks are 11-3 overall with a 4-1 conference record … Stevens is on a three game win streak against conference opponents … The Ducks are led by Andrew Scrutchfield (46 points off of 28 goals and 18 assists) and Matt Ferentini (42 points off of 34 goals and eight assists) … Goalie Carson White (116 saves, a .555 save percentage, and a 7.77 goals against average) is the likely starter in net.
  
Looking Ahead: The Pioneers return to action on the road when they travel to conference opponent St. John Fisher on Saturday … The game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.