UTICA, NY – The Utica College men's lacrosse team rallied from a 9-2 first half deficit to earn a thrilling 11-10 victory over visiting Hartwick College in Empire 8 Conference action on Wednesday afternoon.  The Pioneers outscored Hartwick 9-1 in the final 37:38 of the contest to earn their fifth straight victory over the Hawks in the all-time series.

Utica freshman Dominic Castiglia (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) started the Pioneer rally with his first goal of the day at the 7:38 marker of the second quarter to make it a 9-3 game in favor of the visitors.  Castiglia also capped the Pioneer rally with the game-winner with 6:51 to go in the fourth quarter to give UC an 11-10 lead. 

Freshman goalie Harrison Bower (Northport, NY/Kings Park) came on in relief of senior Parker Smith (Dexter, NY/General Brown) in the second half and allowed just one goal in the 30 minute stretch to earn his first collegiate victory. Bower finished the day with five saves in between the pipes for the Pioneers.

Castiglia led the Pioneers with five points and he now has five or more points in four of his last six games.  Castiglia now has 29 points in his last six games. Ryan Desveaux (Bowmanville, ONT/St. Stephen Catholic) added three goals and one assist while Brickman House (Oneida, WI/Pulaski) registered two goals and two assists. Sophomore Brandon Tracz (Oswego, NY/Oswego) headed into the contest with one career assist and exploded with a career-best three helpers on the afternoon.

Utica opened up a quick 2-1 lead in the first 5:12 of the contest behind two goals from Desveaux until Hartwick made its early surge.  Hartwick then scored the game's next eight goals to take a 9-2 advantage with 8:36 to go in the first.  Castiglia added his first goal of the day before the half, assisted by Brandon Tracz (Oswego, NY/Oswego), to set the score at 9-3 as the halftime horn sounded.

UC opened the second half with six consecutive goals to cut its deficit to 9-8.  Brickman House (Oneida, WI/Pulaski) got things going just 17 seconds into the second half with his 12^th goal of the season, assisted by Castiglia, to make the score 9-4.  Castiglia then netted two straight goals to make it 9-6 and Desveaux tallied his 20^th of the season at the 7:58 marker of the third quarter to make it 9-7. 

Freshman Craig DiSanto (Montebello, NY/Suffern) added his sixth goal of the season, unassisted, to make the score 9-8 with 5:42 to go in the third quarter.

Hartwick punched back and broke the Pioneer rally with a goal at the 4:58 mark of the third quarter to make the score 10-8.  Utica's Nick Yelich (Lancaster, NY/Depew) added his seventh goal of the season with just eight seconds to go in the third quarter to make it a 10-9 ball game headed into the fourth. 

Brickman House (Oneida, WI/Pulaski) tied the game up at 10-10 with 11:55 to go in the contest, assisted by Tracz, and Castiglia added what proved to be the game winner at the 6:51 marker of the fourth.

Bower and the Pioneer defense were able to fend off Hartwick's game tying bid in the final six minutes to help UC snap a four game losing streak. Aric Freischlag (Wilson, NY/Wilson) had a solid day as he registered a career-high six ground balls and added four caused turnovers. Alex Finnegan (Bay Shore, NY/Islip) chipped in with three ground balls and two caused turnovers. Matt Werkmeister (Chaska, MN/Chaska) also added three caused turnovers for UC. Utica's John Hanlon (Coconut Creek, FL/St. John Paul Academy) won 10-of-17 face-offs for the Pioneers.

Hartwick was led by four goals and one assist from Jake Sachse, while goalie Mike Rourke was stellar in net for the Hawks as he made 18 saves.

The Pioneers (3-11, 2-5 Empire 8) close out their season on Saturday when they host Elmira College for an Empire 8 Conference contest.  Hartwick's record moved to 4-9 overall and 2-5 in the Empire 8.