UTICA, NY – The Utica College men's lacrosse team returns home on Wednesday to take on Hartwick College in Empire 8 Conference action at 4 p.m. on the turf at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium. 

Finnegan on Fire: Utica's Alex Finnegan (Bay Shore, NY/Islip) has at least three points in each of his last four games … On Saturday he matched his career-high with five points … He currently has a career-high 36 points this season … Finnegan now has 69 points over the course of four seasons with the Pioneers … He is currently tied for third in the Empire 8 with an average of 1.92 assists per game … His 25 assists this season are tied for fourth on the College's single season list … He needs three more to tie Nick Doshna for third on the single season list … His 28 career assists are now tied for ninth all-time at UC. 

Castiglia Continues Strong Play: Freshman Dominic Castiglia (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) currently leads the team and ranks tenth in the Empire 8 with an average of 3.15 points per game this season … His 33 goals sit just outside the top ten on the College's all-time single season list … He also ranks seventh in the conference with an average of 2.54 goals per game … He has 24 points in his last five games played.

Save Machine: Senior goalie Andrew DiOrio (Greenlawn, NY/Harborfields) currently has 134 saves this season which ranks tenth on the College's all-time single season list … He ranks third in the Empire 8 with an average of 12.18 saves per game … He currently ranks third on the College's career saves list (495) and needs just five more to become just the third player in program-history to secure 500 or more saves in a career. 

Desveaux Getting it Done: Sophomore Ryan Desveaux (Bowmanville, ONT/St. Stephen Catholic) currently ranks second on the team with 17 goals this season … He has 15 points in his last six games and he has scored at least two goals in four of his last six outings … His 21 points and 17 goals are both new career-bests after posting 17 points on 15 goals and two assists last season as a freshman. 

Break Out Year: Junior Brickman House (Oneida, WI/Pulaski) has a career-high 21 points this season on 11 goals and 10 assists ... He now has 34 career points on 19 goals and 15 assists … Junior defender Tyler Nicolaus (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) has also had a breakout season and currently leads the team with a career-high 39 ground balls … Nicolaus also has a team-best and career-high 23 caused turnovers for the Pioneer defense … Defender Rusty Dessert (Islip, NY/Islip) has also played well on the defensive end and ranks second behind Nicolaus with a career-best 37 ground balls and 20 caused turnovers. 

Last Time Out: The Pioneers jumped out to a 5-1 first quarter lead but could not hold on as host St. John Fisher College rallied to earn an 11-8 victory in Empire 8 Conference action on Saturday afternoon at Growney Stadium … Alex Finnegan (Bay Shore, NY/Islip) led the Pioneers with five points on two goals and three assists … Dominic Castiglia (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) continued his strong play as he registered two goals and added one assist for the Pioneers … Ryan Desveaux (Bowmanville, ONT/St. Stephen Catholic) added two goals for Utica.

Scouting Hartwick: Hartwick currently holds a 4-8 overall record and is 2-4 in Empire 8 play this season … The Pioneers have won four straight games against Hartwick and are 6-4 against the Hawks dating back to 2006 … Hartwick is led by Chris Vaden who has 32 points on 24 goals and eight assists this season … Cody Petillo has chipped in with 25 points on 19 goals and six assists … Mike Rourke has seen the bulk of the action between the pipes for the Hawks and currently holds a 9.86 goals against average. 

Current Record: Utica's record is now 2-11 overall and 1-5 in Empire 8 play.