UTICA, NY – The Utica College men's lacrosse team tied the program-record for wins in a single season (nine) after Saturday's convincing 13-6 victory over St. John Fisher College in Empire 8 Conference action at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium.  The Pioneers outscored the Cardinals 8-1 in the second half on their way to a seven goal victory.

Utica (9-5, 3-3 Empire 8) now controls its own destiny with two Empire 8 games left on the regular season schedule on the road at Hartwick and Elmira.  If the Pioneers win both games they will secure the No. 4 spot in the Empire 8 Conference Tournament for just the second time in program-history. The last time Utica defeated Fisher was back in 2013 when the Pioneers won in double overtime and locked up the No. 4 seed in the Empire 8 Tournament for the first time in program-history.

Utica's Dominic Castiglia (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) led UC with four goals and one assist, while Brickman House (Oneida, WI/Pulaski) added three goals and two assists. Senior goalie Parker Smith (Dexter, NY/General Brown) made 12 saves, including seven in the second half, and he allowed just one goal in the final 30 minutes to earn the senior day victory.

Face-off man Nick Finnegan (Bayshore, NY/Islip) won 13-of-22 face-offs and picked up 12 ground balls.  The Pioneers won 9-of-10 second half face-offs to take control of the contest.

Jake Bratek (Syracuse, NY/Jamesville-Dewitt) tied his collegiate-best with five points on three goals and two assists, while senior Liam Wheatley (Rochester, NY/Webster Schroeder) added two goals and one assist for the Pioneers. Nick Yelich (Lancaster, NY/Depew) chipped in with one goal and one assist for the Pioneers.

Tyler Nicolaus (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) caused three turnovers for the Pioneers and picked up one ground ball, while Andrew Davi (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) added two caused turnovers. Sam Davi (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) and Parker Smith (Dexter, NY/General Brown) each added four ground balls.

UC jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first 17:10 of the contest behind goals from Castiglia, Yelich and Bratek.  Fisher then rattled off three goals in less than two minutes to take a 4-3 lead with 6:08 left in the first half of play.

The Pioneers outscored the Cardinals 2-1 in the final 2:50 of the second quarter to knot the score at 5-5 headed into the half.

UC came out hot in the second half and took a 6-5 lead 1:46 into the third quarter after a beautiful behind the back goal from Brickman House (Oneida, WI/Pulaski). Bratek then added two third quarter goals to give UC an 8-6 lead headed into the fourth and final quarter. 

The Pioneers put the contest out of reach with five unanswered fourth quarter tallies.  House and Castiglia each posted two fourth quarter goals and Wheatley added one of his own to help the Pioneers seal the victory.

UC cleared 22-of-24 opportunities and went 2-for-6 in man-up chances.

Fisher's Andrew Rosso led the Cardinals with two goals and two assists.

Senior Brickman House (Oneida, WI/Pulaski) has moved into sixth on the College's all-time single season list with 57 points this year. He needs 10 more points to tie the College's all-time record set by Ben Winkler back in 2012.

The Pioneers improved to 7-3 on their home turf this season and has won seven of their last nine contests.

Utica returns to action on Wednesday when it travels to Hartwick College to take on the Hawks in a game with Empire 8 Tournament implications at 4 p.m.