Oneonta, NY – The Utica College men's lacrosse team held Hartwick College to just five first half goals, but the home team broke out in the second half and earned a 19-3 victory in Empire 8 Conference action on Wednesday afternoon.
 
Utica's Jake Bratek (Syracuse, NY/Jamesville-Dewitt), Dylan Dunham (Elbridge, NY/Jordan Elbridge) and Ryan Desveaux (Bowmanville, ONT/St. Stephen Catholic) each netted one goal for the Pioneers, who saw their record fall to 6-7 overall and 2-3 in Empire 8 play.  Hartwick remains unbeaten at home this season and improved to 7-3 overall and 3-2 in E8 play.

The Pioneers held the Hawks in check through 30 minutes of action and trailed by just two goals, 5-3, at the half.  Bratek gave the Pioneers an early 1-0 lead with a behind the back goal to open the scoring on the day at the 9:00 mark of the first quarter. Dunham's 13^th goal of the season made it a 3-2 game in favor of the Hawks midway through the second quarter.  Desveaux then cut Utica's deficit to just two goals before the half, 5-3, as he netted his team-best 41^st of the year with 28 seconds left on the second quarter clock.

Hartwick lit up the scoreboard in the second half, netting 14 unanswered goals to earn the 16-goal victory. The Hawks were led by five goals from Sam Ferguson and four goals from Cordell Armstrong.  Justin Curreri added three goals and two assists, while Wyatt Long chipped in with two goals and two assists.

Jimmy Vienneau (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy), Nick Alexander (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford), Ryan Desveaux (Bowmanville, ONT/St. Stephen Catholic) and Michael Foresti (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) each registered three ground balls for the Pioneers. Alexander also chipped in with one caused turnover.

Harrison Bower (Northport, NY/Kings Park) made 14 saves in net for the Pioneers, while Brad Schulman (Airmont, NY/Suffern) also added one save in relief of Bower. C.J. Alesandrini stopped six shots in the win for the Hawks. 

Utica has two regular season contests remaining on its schedule, beginning with Nazareth College on Saturday at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium. The contest is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. The Pioneers will then host Alfred University in E8 play for their regular season finale at home on April 28^th at 1 p.m.