UTICA, NY -- The Utica College men's lacrosse team travels to Alfred University for an Empire 8 Conference showdown on Sunday.  The game is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. Sunday's contest was originally scheduled to be played on Saturday but was moved back one day due to inclement weather.
 
Last Time Out: 12 players scored at least one point and freshman Dominic Castiglia (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) totaled a career-high nine points on five goals and four assists as the Utica College men's lacrosse team cruised to a 22-5 victory over host Houghton College in Empire 8 Conference action last Saturday …  Castiglia's nine points are tied for the third most points scored in a single game in program-history.

Highlights from Houghton:  The Pioneers had several statistical highlights in the recent win over Houghton College … Ryan Desveaux (Bowmanville, ONT/St. Stephen Catholic) registered four goals, just one shy of his career-high … Matthew Miller (Geneva, NY/Geneva) tied his career-high with three assists … Craig DiSanto (Montebello, NY/Suffern) registered a career-best four goals … Xavier Perron (Sherbrooke, Quebec/Le Triolet) added a career-best two goals and one assist … Freshman Nicholas Horne (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) netted his first collegiate goal … Tyler Giachinta (Cold Spring, NY/Haldane) added his first collegiate assist … Brandon Tracz (Oswego, NY/Oswego) scored his second goal in as many games … Patrick Mulligan (Commack, NY/Commack) came up one point shy of his career-high as he added two goals and one assist … Rusty Dessert (Islip, NY/Islip) posted a career-high four caused turnovers.
 
Point Streak: Castiglia leads the team with 26 points off of 18 goals and eight assists this season … Castiglia has atleast one point in eight of his first nine collegiate games … He has been particularly hot as of late, posting 17 points in his last four outings.

Finnegan Feeds: Senior Alex Finnegan (Bay Shore, NY/Islip) is eighth in the conference in assists per game (1.67) … He has at least one assist in eight of nine games this season … He currently ranks second on the team with 21 total points. 

Helping Out: Utica has 17 players with at least one point this year … Brickman House (Oneida, WI/Pulaski) is third on the team with 15 points off of nine goals and six assists while Ryan Desveaux (Bowmanville, ONT/St. Stephen Catholic) is fourth on the team with 14 points off of 12 goals and two assists … Nick Yelich (Lancaster, NY/Depew) is fifth on the team with 11 points off of five goals and six assists … Matthew Miller (Geneva, NY/Geneva) is sixth on the team with 10 points off of five goals and five assists.  
 
In The Net: Senior Andrew DiOrio (Greenlawn, NY/Harborfields) and junior Parker Smith (Dexter, NY/General Brown) have played the majority of the minutes in net for the Pioneers … DiOrio has started seven games, has 83 saves, a .472 save percentage, and a 14.88 goals against average … Smith has started two games while playing in five games total … He has 14 saves, a .609 save percentage, and a 4.91 goals against average … Smith is first in the conference in goals against average and fifth in the conference in save percentage … DiOrio is third in the conference in saves per game (11.86).
 
Scouting the Saxons: Alfred University is 7-3 on the season and 1-2 in the Empire 8 Conference … Sophomore Jack Lynch leads the team in points with 49 (40 goals and nine assists) ... Lynch leads the conference in goals per game (4.00) … He also is fourth in the conference in points per game (4.90) … Joe Fornataro is second on the team with 34 points off of 31 goals and three assists … Fornataro follows his teammate and is second in the conference in goals per game (3.10) … He is seventh in points per game (3.40) … John Winchell is third on the team with 28 points off of nine goals and nineteen assists. 
 
All-Time Against Alfred: The Pioneers are 9-7 all-time against Alfred … UC has won three of the last four meetings, outscoring the Saxons 44-27 over the course of the streak … Eight of the 16 meetings between these two programs have been decided by four goals or less. 

Leading The Defense: UC has three players with 10 or more caused turnovers … Rusty Dessert (Islip, NY/Islip) is first on the team with 15, Tyler Nicolaus (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) is second on the team with 13, and Matt Werkmeister (Chaska, MN/Chaska) is third on the team with 12 … Dessert is eighth in the conference in caused turnovers per game (1.67) and Nicolaus is tied for ninth in the conference (1.44) … Dessert is first on the team with 26 groundballs while Nicolaus is second on the team with 22.
 
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.
 
Looking Ahead:  The Pioneers return to action as they host nationally-ranked No. 11 Nazareth College on Wednesday in Empire 8 Conference action … The game is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium.