UTICA, NY -- The Utica College men's lacrosse team begins its hunt to "Play in May" on Wednesday when the Pioneers host Hamilton College for the seventh annual Contineer Cup at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium at 4:30 p.m.

Season Openers: The Pioneers are 7-9 in season openers over the course of the last 16 seasons … They have won four straight season opening contests on two different occasions since the year 2000 … This season UC looks to start a new streak after losing last year's opener against national power St. Lawrence at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium.

First Time Ever: 2017 will be the first time in program-history that the Pioneers will open their season against Hamilton College for local bragging rights and the coveted Contineer Cup ... In 2016 Hamilton came out on top, 18-5 … Hamilton has retained the Contineer Cup in six meetings since the rivalry game earned its namesake back in 2011. 

Back to The Conference Tournament: UC looks to return to the Empire 8 Conference Tournament for the second time in program-history after making an appearance in 2013 … The 9-7 record that the Pioneers earned back in 2013 was also a program record for wins in a single season ... The Empire 8 Conference Tournament begins on May 3rd this season. 

2016 Recap: Utica won its final two games of the season over Hartwick and Elmira to finish with a 4-11 overall ledger in 2016 … Three of their wins came in the extremely competitive Empire 8 Conference as they finished in sixth place out of nine teams.

Schedule at a Glance: Last season, the Pioneers were 3-2 at the friendly confines of Charles A. Gaetano Stadium and they played 10 games either on the road or at neutral sites ... This season the team opens up with nine out of their first 10 games on the turf at Gaetano... In the second half of the schedule, the Pioneers face a tough stretch of five out of their last six games on the road... Four of those matchups will be road conference games ... On April 1, the Pioneers will host their annual USILA/Headstrong Cancer Awareness Game against Houghton College in an Empire 8 matchup … As usual in the Empire 8, the Pioneers are guaranteed three games against teams either ranked or receiving votes in the most recent USILA/Nike National Coaches Poll, as they have scheduled E8 contests against No. 4 Ithaca College, as well as perennial powers Stevens and Nazareth.

All-Conference Selections: UC tied a program-best last season with six Pioneers earning Empire 8 All-Conference recognition ... Dominic Castiglia (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool), Tyler Nicolaus (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy), John Hanlon (Coconut Creek, FL/St. John Paul Academy), Rusty Dessert (Islip, NY/Islip), and now graduated Aric Freischlag (Wilson, NY/Wilson) were named honorable mentions, while graduate Brandon Souza (Watervliet, NY/Shaker) was named to the Sportsman of the Year team... The last time UC had six players selected to the all-conference team was back in 2013.

The Coaching Staff: Mike Parnell enters his 12^th season as the head coach of the men's lacrosse team … Parnell is a Utica College graduate who was one of the founding members of the varsity lacrosse program as a student-athlete … He now has 69 victories under his belt and is the program's all-time leader in career wins … Parnell will be assisted by former Pioneer Sean Behan who was hired as an athletic assistant for the program in the Summer of 2015…Behan helped the 2013 edition of the Pioneers to a school-record nine victories…Zach Bruening also joins the staff after being hired as an athletic assistant in the Fall of 2016…On the lacrosse field, Bruening contributed to a class that was responsible for a 44-19 overall record at Division II national power Lake Erie College.

High Powered Returners: Dominic Castiglia (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) is the Pioneers top returning scorer and hopes to find continued success in his sophomore campaign... Castiglia wrapped up his freshman season as the team's leader in points (50) and goals (40)…  He ranked sixth in the conference with 2.67 goals per game...  He scored at least one point in 14-of-15 games played and he recorded 36 points in his last eight games, including a season-high nine points (five goals, four assists) in a win over Houghton on April 2...  His 27 goals in conference play led the E8 … Junior Ryan Desveaux (Bowmanville, ONT/St. Stephen Catholic) returns this season after registering 27 points a year ago … He scored 22 goals and added five assists … He had a four goal performance in a 22-5 win against Houghton … He also had a four point outing against Hartwick College late in the season (three goals, one assist) …  Desveaux hit his stride late, posting at least one point in each of his final eight contests … In 31 career games he has 37 goals and seven assists.

He's a Brick-House: Senior midfielder Brickman House (Oneida, WI/Pulaski) will look to improve on his 27 points from a year ago and enters the season as one of the team leaders … He scored 15 goals and added 12 assists in 2016 ... House scored at least one point in 10 of the final 12 games last season … He had a four point performance against Hartwick with two goals and two assists … He also had a four point outing against Oswego State, registering three goals and one assist. 

Controlling Possession: Face-off expert John Hanlon (Coconut Creek, FL/St. John Paul Academy) returns to the face-off X after posting a .510 winning percentage in his freshman campaign on his way to an all-conference honorable mention …He won 75 face-off's on the year … Hanlon also scooped up 21 ground balls.

Guiding The Midfield: Senior Liam Wheatley (Rochester, NY/Webster Schroeder) returns to the lineup this season after playing in just four games last year … Wheatley has 40 career games under his belt and in 2015 he recorded a career-best nine goals and nine assists … Craig DiSanto (Montebello, NY/Suffern) played in 14 games last year and totaled seven points (six goals), while Brandon Tracz (Oswego, NY/Oswego) will look to play an expanded role for the Pioneers after posting two goals and four assists in 2016 … Mitch Sobilo (Hamburg, NY/Hamburg) played in 14 games last year and posted one goal and one assist … They will be joined by one-time Syracuse University lacrosse player and central New York standout Jake Bratek (Syracuse, NY/Jamesville-Dewitt), along with Nick Finnegan (Bayshore, NY/Islip), Tyler Giachinta (Cold Spring, NY/Haldane), Nicholas Horne (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna), Justin Potocki (Verona, NY/Vernon Verona Sherrill), and Duwayne Matson (Oneida, WI/Oneida Nation) …Adding depth to the midfield will be Justin Kruszewski (Cynwyd, PA/Harriton), Jimmy Vienneau (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy), Jared Smaldon (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy), Carter Steinhilper (Higganum, CT/Haddam-Killingworth), Matt Fedullo (Amsterdam, NY/Amsterdam), Dakota Allen (Rome, NY/Holland Patent), and Trevor Pletl (Deerfield, NY/Whitesboro).  

Between The Pipes: Utica will have an open competition at goalkeeper after the departure of stalwart Andrew DiOrio (Greenlawn, NY/Harborfields)…Brad Schulman (Airmont, NY/Suffern), Harrison Bower (Northport, NY/Kings Park), and Parker Smith (Dexter, NY/General Brown) all return to the team after earning playing time in goal last season … Smith started three games last season, a duty which was primarily reserved for DiOrio…Schulman led the group saving .833 percent of the shots he faced while Bower and Smith tallied wins for the team when they were between the pipes ... Freshman Dylan Allen (Rome, NY/Holland Patent) will be joining the competition as well.

Defensive Lineup: Tyler Nicolaus (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) made his first career appearance on the all-conference list in 2016 after finishing tied for fourth in the conference with 1.73 caused turnovers per game ... As a long stick midfielder he led the team with 46 ground balls and he added a career-high two goals and four assists in 15 games last season … Rusty Dessert (Islip, NY/Islip) will help guide the defense after earning an all-conference nod last season … Dessert finished second on the team with 42 ground balls and he was also third in caused turnovers (22) in 2016 … His 1.47 caused turnovers per game ranked ninth in the E8 … Anthony Thomas (Clinton, NY/Vernon Verona Sherrill), Andrew Davi (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford), Ryan Jordan (Cicero, NY/Cicero North Syracuse), and Hunter Izyk (Oswego, NY/Oswego) are among the veteran returners on the back line … Jordan returns with plenty of collegiate experience under his belt after playing in all 15 games last year while starting in ten … Sam Davi (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford), Cameron Blanchard-Taylor (Alexandria, VA/Mount Vernon), Tom Zegarelli (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford), Michael Foresti (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro), and Alex Velazquez (Brookhaven, NY/Longwood) are all new faces that will be waiting for their opportunity. 

On The Attack:  Castiglia and Desveaux return as the Pioneers top scoring threats ... Nick Yelich (Lancaster, NY/Depew) also returns this season looking to improve on his 15 points last season that ranked sixth on the team… His 15 points are the third-most among returning Pioneers ... Patrick Dickson (West Palm Beach, FL/Cardinal Newman) and Bob Zattola (Somers, NY/Somers) will add depth to the Pioneers' attacking front… Lucas Holeman (Dexter, NY/Watertown), Austin Forte (Central Square, NY/Central Square), and Lucas Sexton (Hampton, NH/Winnacunnet) are set to spice up the offense …The Pioneer's will look to improve on their average of 9.07 goals per game from a year ago, which ranked sixth in the conference.

New Faces: The Pioneers will welcome several freshmen to the team this season including Sam Davi (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford), Justin Kruszewski (Cynwyd, PA/Harriton), Lucas Holeman (Dexter, NY/Watertown), Jimmy Vienneau (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy), Jared Smaldon (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy), Carter Steinhilper (Higganum, CT/Haddam-Killingworth), Cameron Blanchard-Taylor (Alexandria, VA/Mount Vernon), Tom Zegarelli (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford), Austin Forte (Central Square, NY/Central Square), Michael Foresti (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro), Matt Fedullo (Amsterdam, NY/Amsterdam), Dakota Allen (Rome, NY/Holland Patent), Alex Velazquez (Brookhaven, NY/Longwood), Lucas Sexton (Hampton, NH/Winnacunnet), Dylan Allen (Rome, NY/Holland Patent), and Trevor Pletl (Deerfield, NY/Whitesboro).