UTICA, NY- The Utica University men's lacrosse team travels to face crosstown rival SUNY Poly on Wednesday, March 1 at 4 p.m. The team will then return home to host SUNY Canton on Saturday, March 4 at noon. 
 
Follow Along: Poly will provide live stats and/or video via https://bit.ly/2EH6kIm. Those who cannot attend Saturday's home game can follow along with live video and/or stats at https://bit.ly/2EH6kIm.
 
Last Time Out: The team fell to the SUNY Oneonta Red Dragons 14-8 in its home opener on Sunday, February 26. Sam Serrano (Stone Ridge, NY/Roundout Valley) and Connor Costanza (Deer Park, NY/Deer Park) led the team with two goals each while John Spoto (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Mendon), Nolan Shea (Williston, VT/Champlain Valley Union), Jonathan Chilinski (Red Hook, NY/Red Hook) and Luke Rinaudo-Concessi (Babylon, NY/West Babylon) each had one. Serrano and Costanza also led the team with four points apiece with a pair of assists to their goal totals. In goal for the Pioneers, Jake Bowen (Williston, VT/Champlain Valley Union) made 11 saves in his first career start. The Pioneers led the way with 34 ground balls and capitalized on 3-of-4 extra man opportunities. Chase Rorick (Honeoye Falls, NY/Honeoye Falls-Lima) scooped up six groundballs for a career high while causing one turnover. Ethan Brown (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Forks) created two caused turnovers and tallied five ground balls. The Utica defense shut down the Red Dragons on six extra man opportunities. In the fourth, the Pioneers scored four goals to keep them within range. Oneonta opened the game with a goal nearly 50 seconds into the game for a quick 1-0 lead. Connor Costanza (Deer Park, NY/Deer Park) responded quickly for the Pioneers with a game-tying goal roughly a minute and a half later. Utica took its first lead of the game later in the first period as Sam Serrano (Stone Ridge, NY/Roundout Valley) fired one in on a man-up opportunity for a 2-1 edge. However, the Red Dragons came back with seven goals in a row from the end of the first period through the end of the half to go into the break ahead 8-2. On another man-up opportunity early in the third, Costanza scored his second goal of the game with a nice feed from Serrano to break the team's scoring skid. The Pioneers scored one more goal in the third, this time by John Spoto (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Mendon), while Oneonta tacked on four more itself as Utica trailed 12-4 going into the final frame. Utica had its highest scoring period in the fourth as Serrano, Rinaudo-Concessi, Shea and Chilinski each recorded a goal, Shea's coming on another man-up advantage, before time expired. 
 
Costanza's Cookin': Through two games, Connor Costanza (Deer Park, NY/Deer Park) found the back of the net four times while dishing out three apples. He is second in the Empire 8 with 3.5 points per game and third in assists with three this season. Last time against Poly, he found the net once and assisted on two goals in a 8-4 victory. 
 
Slingin' Sam: Sam Serrano (Stone Ridge, NY/Roundout Valley) scored twice against Oneonta while assisting on two. Early in the first, he put one in the back of the net on a man-up opportunity to put the Pioneers up by one. In 2022 against Poly he scored three times on four shots. Serrano is a key piece of the Pioneers offense and has been enjoying a strong start to the season.
 
Brick Wall: In his first two collegiate games, Jake Bowen (Williston, VT/Champlain Valley Union) has a .595 save percentage and 22 saves. He sits second in the conference in both save percentage and saves per game. In his first career start, Bowen took over late in the second half against Morrisville while recording 11 saves on 13 shots faced. 
 
Next Man Up: The Pioneers have been dominant leading the conference in extra-man opportunities. Costanza had two extra man goals and Nolan Shea (Williston, VT/Champlain Valley Union) had one versus Morrisville. Against Oneonta, Serrano, Costanza, and Shea each had one extra man goal a piece. The defense has been stout on man-down, ranking first in the conference allowing no goals over 13 attempts. 
 
Scouting Poly: The Wildcats will be without their leading top-four point producers from last season. Edward Rosaschi (25g, 17a), Amelio Ripa (18g, 8a), Shane Wyman (23g, 1a) and Keyshawn Clark (16g, 6a) are all key losses. Last time the two squared off on March 2, 2022 Ripa led the team with two goals against the Pioneers in a 8-4 Utica win. Joseph VanZandt is the only returning goalkeeper for the Wildcats who allowed 55 goals with 47 saves and a 3-1 record last season. This will be the first time they play in Marcy since 2019 while the Pioneers hold a 13-1 all-time record against Poly with the only loss coming in the 2020 shortened season. 
 
About Canton: The Roos will open their season at home on Wednesday, March 1 against Plattsburgh State. The team lost its top contributor Hunter Olsen, who recorded 101 points with 54 goals and 47 assists last season. Yet, the team returns its two next best point getters as Alex Jacobs and Austin Mesler return for their sophomore campaigns. The two both posted incredible freshman seasons each recording 55 points while Jacobs had 47 goals. Sam Servati returns as the team's top goaltender after starting all 16 games last season with 231 saves, a .491 save percentage, and 9-7 record.
 
Up Next: Utica will travel to Clinton, NY to face Hamilton College in the Contineer Cup on Tuesday, March 7 at 5 p.m.