ROCHESTER, NY - The Utica College men's lacrosse team traveled on Saturday to take on Nazareth College. In their attempt to move back to the .500 mark on the season, the Pioneers would come up just short as they fell short in an E8 clash against the Golden Flyers by a 23-5 score in Rochester.

The Pioneers are now 5-7 this season, and they fall to 1-3 in the Empire 8. Nazareth improves to 4-8 and 2-2 in the Empire 8 conference.

Utica was led by freshman John Avery's (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford-Mendon) two goals, while Jared Smaldon (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy), Kevin Parisi (Glenwood, NJ/Vernon Township), and John Hanlon (Coconut Creek, FL/St. John Paul Academy) each tacked on goals of their own. James Daniele (Pleasantville, NY/Pleasantville) had a pair of assists, and Dylan Dunham (Elbridge, NY/Jordan Elbridge) and Zach Duby (Jamesville, NY/Jamesville-Dewitt) each had one assist. Harrison Bower (Northport, NY/Kings Park) had eleven saves, Ryan Boshart (Fayetteville, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius) had three, and Dylan Allen (Rome, NY/Holland Patent) also spent time in the net as part of a three way goalkeeper split. Matthew Vanliew led Nazareth with five goals and two assists, and Kevin Hussey had five goals and an assist, while they rotated in three goalies to make a combined seven saves.

Utica was out-shot on goal 37-12, and Nazareth won 25 of 31 faceoffs. The Golden Flyers were 2-for-8 with the extra man while the Pioneers were held scoreless in their lone opportunity.

The Golden Flyers scored the first four goals of the opening quarter before Jared Smaldon (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) put Utica on the board with 2:23 left in the quarter. Nazareth's Kevin Hussey scored with under two minutes left in the first quarter, and the Golden Flyers held a 5-1 lead after one.

The Pioneers provided a resilient push back of their own to open second quarter play as they came back with a three-goal run to slim the lead down to 5-4. John Avery (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford-Mendon) sparked the run at 11:40 assisted by Zach Duby (Jamesville, NY/Jamesville-Dewitt), long pole Kevin Parisi (Glenwood, NJ/Vernon Township) got in on the act at 11:13 with an unassisted goal, and John Hanlon (Coconut Creek, FL/St. John Paul Academy) rounded out the run with a goal at 9:54.

From there, Nazareth deposited four more goals in by halftime to re-take a sizeable lead at 9-4 at the midway intermission. That sparked a 13-0 run that spilled over into the second half as the Golden Flyers took full control. The Pioneers got one more tally on Avery's second goal, but Nazareth ran away with the 23-5 win.

The Pioneers will play a pair of Wednesday Empire 8 home games on their upcoming docket. On Wednesday, April 10th, the Pioneers will host St. John Fisher, and they are due to meet Hartwick College the following Wednesday. Both matchups are slated for 4 p.m.