UTICA, NY – The Utica College men's lacrosse team sprinted out to a 6-0 lead in the first quarter and never looked back on its way to an impressive 16-6 victory over visiting Keuka College on a gorgeous Spring afternoon at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium Wednesday. Five different Pioneers scored at least two goals in the victory.  UC was led by a career-day from senior John Hanlon (Coconut Creek, FL/St. John Paul Academy) as he registered four goals and three assists. 

Freshman James Daniele (Pleasantville, NY/Pleasantville) added a career-best six points on two goals and four assists, while Craig DiSanto (Montebello, NY/Suffern) chipped in with one goal and three helpers.  Dale Wagner (Elbridge, NY/Jordan Elbridge) added to his team-lead as he posted three goals to give him 17 for the season. 
Utica has now won two in a row and improved to 4-3 overall, including a 2-1 ledger at the friendly confines of Gaetano Stadium. The Pioneers begin Empire 8 Conference play on Saturday when they travel to Hoboken, NJ to take on Stevens Institute of Technology at 1 p.m.

UC earned a 54-30 shot advantage on the day and the Pioneers also won the ground ball battle, 36-26. Jimmy Vienneau (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) and Pat Kiernan (Mattapoisett, MA/Old Rochester Regional) each won seven face-offs to help the Pioneers control possession.  Freshman long pole Kevin Parisi (Glenwood, NJ/Vernon Township) caused six turnovers and added six ground balls.  He currently leads the team in both categories this season (22 caused turnovers, 39 ground balls).

UC's commanding 6-0 lead in the first quarter came by way of six different goal scorers.  James Daniele (Pleasantville, NY/Pleasantville), Dale Wagner (Elbridge, NY/Jordan Elbridge), Jared Smaldon (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy), Michael Foresti (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro), John Avery (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford-Mendon) and John Hanlon (Coconut Creek, FL/St. John Paul Academy) each posted a goal in the first 15 minutes to push the Pioneers to an early 6-0 lead.  Craig DiSanto (Montebello, NY/Suffern) posted all three of his assists in the first quarter for Utica.

Keuka would not go down without a fight and cut its deficit to just two goals after Kasey Gallina scored a man-up goal with 3:44 to go in the first half to set the score at 7-5.  Hanlon's second goal of the day and seventh of the year helped to stop the Wolves in their tracks before the halftime horn sounded.  Hanlon's unassisted rocket with less than a minute to go made the score 8-5 through 30 minutes of action.

UC went on to rattle off eight consecutive goals to start the second half as the Pioneers earned the commanding victory.  Utica's five third quarter goals were courtesy of DiSanto, Tyler Giachinta (Cold Spring, NY/Haldane), Daniele, John Avery (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford-Mendon) and Wagner.  The Pioneers then outscored the visitors 3-1 in the fourth to earn the ten goal victory. 

Freshman John Avery (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford-Mendon) netted two goals and added one assist on the afternoon, while junior captain Jared Smaldon (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) added two goals of his own.  Senior captain Tyler Giachinta (Cold Spring, NY/Haldane) and long pole Michael Foresti (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) each added one goal for UC. 

Goalie's Ryan Boshart (Fayetteville, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius) and Harrison Bower (Northport, NY/Kings Park) split time in net for the Pioneers. Boshart got the starting nod and stopped six shots.  Bower came on to start the second half and made seven saves while allowing just one goal in the final 20 minutes of action to propel the Pioneers to victory. 

Keuka's record fell to 2-2 overall on the year. The Wolves were led by one goal and one assist each from Craig Gerhardt, Kasey Gallina and Mark Shattuck.  Nikoli Biljanoski stopped 17 shots in the loss between the pipes for the Wolves.