HOUGHTON, NY- The Utica College men's lacrosse team jumped out to an early lead and never looked back as it downed host Houghton College 15-9 in its Empire 8 Conference opener Saturday afternoon.  Junior John Hanlon (Coconut Creek, FL/St. John Paul Academy) led the Pioneers with five points on the day.
 
Utica improves to 3-3 overall and the Pioneers are now 3-1 in their last four games.  UC will look to carry its momentum into a non-conference match up at Oswego State on Wednesday.  Game time is scheduled for 4 p.m.
 
The Pioneers jumped out to a 7-2 lead after the first quarter and led 13-5 at half time to all but seal the victory.  John Hanlon (Coconut Creek, FL/St. John Paul Academy) had one goal and added four assists while senior Ryan Desveaux (Bowmanville, ONT/St. Stephen Catholic) netted four goals, one off his season-high, to lead the way for Utica. 
 
Junior Jake Bratek (Syracuse, NY/Jamesville-Dewitt) netted three goals and added one assist, while Jared Smaldon (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) and Nick Yelich (Lancaster, NY/Depew) each had two goals.  Jacob Hyer (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro), Craig DiSanto (Montebello, NY/Suffern), and Michael Foresti (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) also found the back of the net.  Zach Duby (Jamesville, NY/Jamesville-Dewitt) chipped in with a season-high three assists and Dylan Dunham (Elbridge, NY/Jordan Elbridge) registered a helper as well. 
 
Jimmy Vienneau (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) was lights out at the faceoff dot as he was 18-for-24 and picked up a game-high nine ground balls.  Tom Zegarelli (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) led the Pioneers with three caused turnovers, while Foresti, Matt Fedullo (Amsterdam, NY/Amsterdam), and Trevor Brady (Walpole, MA/Walpole) each caused two turnovers. 
 
Harrison Bower (Northport, NY/Kings Park), Ryan Boshart (Fayetteville, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius), Brad Schulman (Airmont, NY/Suffern), and Dylan Allen (Rome, NY/Holland Patent) each saw time in goal, combining for eight saves in the win.