Box Score UTICA, NY - The Utica College men's lacrosse team now has its first Empire 8 conference win of the season under its belt after Wednesday afternoon's game. The Pioneers broke away from a one goal game after one quarter with a 4-1 second quarter, and kept the visiting offense to just three second half goals while steadily increasing their own lead as Utica topped the visiting Sage Gators by a 13-7 score at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium.

The win snaps a three game losing streak for Utica, and pulls the Pioneers within one game of .500 at 5-6. The win was Utica's first conference victory of the season, and they now stand at 1-2 in the Empire 8 conference. The meeting between Utica and Sage was the first ever between the two programs with Sage currently in its first season of men's lacrosse. The Gators are now 5-5, and open their Empire 8 tenure at 0-3. 

The Pioneers pulled away due in large part to an industrious defensive and faceoff effort. They forced eleven failed clears by the Gators, and caused a total of sixteen turnovers as the visitors turned the ball over 30 times in total for the afternoon. The Pioneers also won the ground ball battle 43-28, and they allowed the second fewest goals they've allowed in a game this season. Freshman defenseman Kevin Parisi (Glenwood, NJ/Vernon Township) had seven caused turnovers and six ground balls, and veteran midfielder Tyler Giachinta (Cold Spring, NY/Haldane) came off the bench to tack on six ground balls. The Pioneers held a 15-10 advantage at the X on faceoffs with Pat Kiernan (Mattapoisett, MA/Old Rochester Regional) winning 10 of the 15 draws he took.

Offensively, the Pioneers got a pair of four point outings to pace their attack. Craig DiSanto (Montebello, NY/Suffern) had a career day with four goals, and Jared Smaldon (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) also had a career best performance in a Pioneer uniform with three goals and an assist. Sage's David Baraniuk had four goals to pace the Gators. Utica landed 34 shots on goal to Sage's 18.

Utica goalkeeper Harrison Bower (Northport, NY/Kings Park) stopped 11 of 18 shots to taste victory, while counterpart Brandon Maresca was busy for the Gators while stopping 21 of 34 shots at his net.

Smaldon emerged as the hot hand for Utica early in the contest as he scored 53 seconds into the game on an assist by Nicholas Horne (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna). A penalty on Smaldon at 11:53 turned the tide of the game briefly over to Sage, as the Gators' David Baraniuk scored twice in just over a minute including a man-up goal to give the visitors a 2-1 edge. Smaldon netted the equalizer minutes after the release of his penalty at 5:44, and Giachinta and DiSanto each scored goals to outpace a Gator goal in the final five minutes of the quarter to escape the first quarter with a one goal lead by a 4-3 score.

The Pioneers made their move in the second quarter of play to open up a cushion that would not be surmounted by the visitors. Again it was Smaldon getting his team off to a rapid start in the frame as he scored his hat trick goal, and his twelfth of the season just 61 seconds into the frame. The lead increased to three on a DiSanto unassisted tally with 8:21 remaining in the half. Sage trimmed the advantage back down to two goals, but the reduction was short-lived as James Daniele (Pleasantville, NY/Pleasantville) assisted on markers by DiSanto and John Hanlon (Coconut Creek, FL/St. John Paul Academy) to give Utica an 8-4 lead at halftime.

The lead just got bigger from there as the young Gators were kept relatively quiet all the while. Utica scored three of the next four goals to begin the second half, including a pair of scores by John Avery (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford-Mendon), and Carter Steinhilper (Higganum, CT/Haddam-Killingworth) scored the first goal of his college career as Utica darted out to an 11-5 lead by the early stages of the fourth. Both teams scored a pair of goals each the rest of the way in the fourth. Craig DiSanto (Montebello, NY/Suffern) puffed the net for his fourth goal, and long pole Michael Foresti (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) scored his second goal to round out the Utica scoring as the Pioneers went on to a 13-7 win. Utica is now 3-2 at home this season. 

Utica is back in action on Saturday as they visit Empire 8 stalwart Nazareth. Faceoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.