UTICA, NY - The Utica College men's lacrosse team celebrated senior day on Saturday. Fittingly, it was the elder statesmen of the group who helped pave the way to a decisive victory to close out the regular season. Utica erupted for a season-high 21 goals, eight of them from the team's four senior field players, as the Pioneers routed Empire 8 opponent Houghton College by a 21-9 score at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium.
The win secures an improvement over the team's overall and Empire 8 win totals from the 2017-18 season. Utica finishes the season at 7-9, and 3-5 in the Empire 8 conference. The victory was Utica's second straight to wrap up the regular season and the program's seventh straight win against Houghton as they improved to 7-0 all-time against the Highlanders. Houghton finishes the year at 4-13.
Thirteen different players had a goal for Utica. Senior
Nicholas Horne (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) was the offensive pace setter for Utica with a career-best five points on two goals and three assists in his final collegiate action. Classmate
Craig DiSanto (Montebello, NY/Suffern) polished off his career with his second hat trick of the season.
James Daniele (Pleasantville, NY/Pleasantville),
John Avery (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford-Mendon),
Dylan Dunham (Elbridge, NY/Jordan Elbridge), senior
Tyler Giachinta (Cold Spring, NY/Haldane), and
Dakota Allen (Rome, NY/Holland Patent) all had two goals apiece for the Pioneers. senior
John Hanlon (Coconut Creek, FL/St. John Paul Academy) tacked on a goal and a pair of assists. In goal, senior
Harrison Bower (Northport, NY/Kings Park) made eight saves for the win in his final college start with
Dylan Allen (Rome, NY/Holland Patent) filling his place for the final quarter of the game. Giachinta collected the most ground balls on the squad with a game-high 11.
The Pioneers won 30 of 32 faceoffs in the matchup, and outshot the Highlanders on net 32-20. Utica also held a sizeable advantage in the ground ball battle, 51-23. Freshman
Drew Turck (Lowville, NY/Lowville) won fourteen of his fifteen faceoffs for Utica.
Nathan Anderson had a hat trick for Houghton.
The Pioneers and Highlanders competed hard in the opening minutes, with the action continually progressing from end-to-end. However a mix of blustery weather conditions, a frantic tempo, and unforced errors by both sides kept early scoring opportunities to a minimum. Neither team took advantage of their chances for the first nine minutes of action.
That all changed when Utica head coach
Mike Parnell called a timeout after Utica's best scoring chance up to that point was short circuited. Just seconds later, the Pioneers took the lid off the game to spark a colossal first half run. With 5:18 to go in the first half, freshman
John Avery (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford-Mendon) netted his 28th goal of the season to get Utica on the board. The goal was the catalyst for what would build into a dominant lead. The Pioneers scored the next three goals, and thirteen of the next fourteen tallies to build a 14-1 lead at the break.
Utica peppered nineteen shots on Houghton's net by the time halftime arrived. Six different Pioneer players had two goals each by the point the game hit the intermission. A highlight of the first half came with 8:33 to go in the second quarter.
Michael Foresti (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) scored a beautiful goal when he received a pass from Hanlon, then came across the net from right to left and shot the ball behind his back for a goal that brought some momentary warmth to a wind-chilled home crowd.
The Highlanders replied with a concerted effort to begin the second half. Houghton scored five of the first eight goals of the second half to erode the lead slightly down to eleven goals for the Pioneers in the early stages of the fourth, but the Highlanders would get no further as Utica waltzed away with a 21-9 win.
The Pioneers graduate five seniors, with an impressive quartet of them expected to continue their pursuit of a Doctorate of Physical Therapy after receiving their baccalaureate degrees in just a few short weeks.
