The Utica College men's lacrosse team will be at home on Monday, to battle SUNY Potsdam. The opening face-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.
 
Last Time Out: The Pioneers dropped their season opener at home against Hamilton College in the seventh annual "Contineer Cup," 19-10 … Senior Brickman House (Oneida, WI/Pulaski) tied his career-high with five points on three goals and two assists to lead UC in points … Sophomore Dominic Castiglia (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) picked up where he left off last season, scoring a team-high four goals … Ryan Desveaux (Bowmanville, ONT/St. Stephen Catholic) recorded a team-high three assists for UC, while Nick Yelich (Lancaster, NY/Depew) posted three points on one goal and two assists … Also, sophomore transfer Jake Bratek (Syracuse, NY/Jamesville-Dewitt) was able to net his first goal in a Pioneer uniform in the contest … Goalkeeper Parker Smith (Dexter, NY/General Brown) tallied a career-high 10 saves in net for the Pioneers.
 
Castiglia's Strong Start: Dominic Castiglia (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) started his season off with a bang, scoring four goals against Hamilton College … The four goals are the most in a season opener for the Pioneers since Trent Thomas had four goals against SUNY Poly (Then SUNYIT) to start the 2012 season … Last year, Castiglia had a team high 50 points on 40 goals and 10 assists … After just one game Castiglia is looking to improve on his performance from last year, which resulted in him receiving an Empire 8 All-Conference Honorable Mention.
 
Staying at Home: The game against Potsdam will be the second home game in a row for the Pioneers … The team is entering a stretch where nine out of its first 10 games this season are going to be played at home … This is a great opportunity for UC to get some quality wins at home, after playing only five home games all of last season … The Pioneers finished last season with a home record of 3-2.
 
Defensive Standouts: Defenseman Tyler Nicolaus (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) snagged a team-high six ground balls and caused two turnovers on defense against Hamilton … Rusty Dessert (Islip, NY/Islip) and Sam Davi (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) also caused two turnovers each in the contest for the Pioneers … Senior Parker Smith (Dexter, NY/General Brown) was able to scoop up five ground balls in the contest and cause one turnover to go with his career-high 10 saves in the net.
 
Scouting Potsdam: The game against Utica will be the season opener for the SUNY Potsdam Bears … Last season, Potsdam was 10-6 overall, one win shy of tying the program single-season record, and finished 3-3 in the SUNYAC last season … The Bears have a roster full of young players as the team added 17 freshmen to the squad heading into this season … Eric Soderquist returns for Potsdam after earning SUNYAC All-Conference Second-Team honors last season, as he tallied 33 goals and 13 assists.
 
Against Potsdam: Last season the Bears came away with a 18-9 victory … Castiglia had three points off of one goal and two assists in the game while Ryan Desveaux (Bowmanville, ONT/St. Stephen Catholic) scored two goals for the Pioneers … In net for that game was, recent graduate, Andrew DiOrio (Greenlawn, NY/Harborfields) as he made ten saves for UC in the contest … The last time Utica defeated SUNY Potsdam was in the 2015 season.
 
Looking Ahead: The men's lacrosse team will be back in action on Wednesday as they travel to take on rival SUNY Poly … The game is scheduled to start at 4 p.m.