UTICA, NY – Freshman Dominic Castiglia (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) netted five goals as the Utica College men's lacrosse team lost to visiting Stevens Institute of Technology 20-9 in Empire 8 Conference action on Wednesday afternoon at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium.  Castiglia now has five or more goals in three of his last four outings. 

Utica's record moved to 2-10 overall and 1-4 in the Empire 8, while Stevens improved to 12-3 overall and 5-1 in conference play.  The Ducks were led by six goals and three assists from Andrew Scrutchfield.  Utica senior Alex Finnegan (Bay Shore, NY/Islip) totaled one goal and three assists and now has a career-high 31 points on the year. 

Stevens, who is receiving votes in the latest USILA/Nike Division III National Coaches Poll, jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first 3:55 of the contest behind two goals from Tommy Dawson.  Utica answered as Finnegan and Castiglia recorded back to back goals in a span of 1:16 to knot the score at 2-2 with 8:06 left in the first quarter.  The two teams exchanged blows and the score was tied at 3-3 after another Castiglia goal with 6:14 left in the first quarter. 

Stevens then rattled off three straight goals in less than two minutes to take a 6-3 lead with 1:48 left in the first quarter.  Castiglia added this third goal of the first quarter with 1:30 left, assisted by Tyler Nicolaus (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy), to make it 6-4, but Stevens went on to add another goal before the end of the first to take a three goal advantage into the second quarter.

The visiting Ducks broke out with six second quarter goals to take a 13-4 lead into the half. 

Stevens netted three of the first four goals of the third quarter to take a commanding 16-5 lead.  Patrick Mulligan (Commack, NY/Commack) scored for the Pioneers in the stretch on a man-up opportunity, assisted by Alex Finnegan (Bay Shore, NY/Islip). 

Castiglia and sophomore Ryan Desveaux (Bowmanville, ONT/St. Stephen Catholic) each netted a goal in the final 4:46 of the third quarter to cut the Pioneers deficit to 16-7 after 45 minutes of action.

Stevens opened the fourth quarter with four straight goals to take a 13 goal lead, before the Pioneers capped the scoring on the day with goals from Nick Yelich (Lancaster, NY/Depew) and Castiglia. 

Castiglia now leads UC with 39 points on the year (31 goals, eight assists).

Patrick Mulligan (Commack, NY/Commack) finished the day with one goal and one assist, while Brickman House (Oneida, WI/Pulaski) and Brandon Tracz (Oswego, NY/Oswego) each added one assist.  Tyler Nicolaus (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) picked up a team-best five ground balls, while Brandon Souza (Watervliet, NY/Shaker) added three ground balls of his own. Freshman John Hanlon (Coconut Creek, FL/St. John Paul Academy) returned to play and went 9-for-20 at the faceoff x.  Senior goalie Andrew DiOrio (Greenlawn, NY/Harborfields) stopped 15 shots between the pipes for Utica. 

Max Bailey added seven points on three goals and four assists for the Ducks, while Connor O'Shea tallied four goals and three assists. 

UC returns to action on the road Saturday when it travels to St. John Fisher College to take on the Cardinals in Empire 8 action at 1 p.m.