UTICA, NY - The Utica University men's lacrosse team is set to host SUNY Brockport on Wednesday, March 15 at 3 p.m.
 
Follow Along: Those unable to attend can tune in for live video and/or stats via https://bit.ly/2wtxUV5.
 
Last Time Out: The Utica University men's lacrosse team beat SUNY Canton 14-8 on Monday afternoon to collect its second straight victory and improve to 3-3 on the season. Today Utica was firing on all cylinders as the team had season-highs in points (21), goals (14), shots (54), shots on goal (28), and ground balls (58). John Spoto (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Mendon) led the way offensively with five points while scoring four goals and adding one assist. Connor Costanza (Deer Park, NY/Deer Park) added two goals and one assist while Sam Serrano (Stone Ridge, NY/Roundout Valley) tallied three assists. Michael Mecca (Oceanside, NY/Oceanside) and Luke Rinaudo-Concessi (Babylon, NY/West Babylon) each scored twice while Gianpual Cooper scored his first collegiate goal and Caiden Frey (Accord, NY/Roundout Valley) found the back of the net once. Nolan Shea (Williston, VT/Champlain Valley Union) and Jonathan Chilinski (Red Hook, NY/Red Hook) each scored one goal and dished out one assist. All three Pioneer goalies saw time in net with Patrick Oswald (Deer Park, NY/Deer Park) seeing over 37 minutes of time while collecting five saves and the win. Jake Bowen (Williston, VT/Champlain Valley Union) saw over 17 minutes of playing time and recorded one save. Owen Mix (Henrietta, NY/Rush Henrietta) closed out the game for Utica. The game started off back and forth as Utica struck first and Canton quickly responded. The teams exchanged goals and it was 3-3 with 3:14 left in the first quarter. Utica's offense and defense started to click as the Pioneers scored six straight goals to open a 9-3 edge with just over one minute left in the half. Canton would score, yet Utica responded and took a 10-4 lead into the half. At the 11:40 mark of the third quarter Michael Mecca (Oceanside, NY/Oceanside) took it upfield and scored on the man down to increase the lead to 11-4. The teams then exchanged the next seven goals with the Pioneers hanging on for a 14-8 victory.
 
Player of the Week: Patrick Oswald (Deer Park, NY/Deer Park) has been named Empire 8 Goalie of the Week, as announced by the league on Monday. Oswald made his second start of the season on Saturday and earned his first win of the 2023 campaign in Utica's 10-5 win over Castleton. In 54 minutes and 30 seconds between the pipes, Oswald allowed just four goals and made 18 saves to help lift the Pioneers over the Spartans. 
 
Dynamic Duo: The duo of Sam Serrano (Stone Ridge, NY/Roundout Valley) and Connor Costanza (Deer Park, NY/Deer Park) has been fantastic this season combining for 31 of the team's 73 points this season. Serrano is just outside the top-ten in the conference in goals per game (1.67) and is eighth in points per game (2.67). Costanza is eighth in the Empire 8 averaging 1.17 assists per game. Costanza also ranks tenth in the Empire 8 averaging 2.50 points per game. Costanza's playmaking has been incredible this season and he has set up his teammates with great close range goal scoring opportunities. 
 
Man Up, Man Down No Problem: Utica has had tremendous success both man up and man down. The team is tied for second in the Empire 8 with an average of 1.50 man up goals per game having converted nine goals this season. Yet, the Pioneer defense during man down has been off the charts allowing just six goals on 36 attempts which is a .833 penalty kill percentage, which is tied for first in the conference.
 
Holding Down the Fort: The duo of Patrick Oswald (Deer Park, NY/Deer Park) and Jake Bowen (Williston, VT/Champlain Valley Union) has been a strong part of Utica's success. The Utica goalies have been lights out with a combined 9.67 goals allowed per game which is the best in the Empire 8 and 1.33 better than second place. Bowen has appeared in all six games this season while starting three. He sports a 1-2 record this season with 43 saves, and a .524 save percentage against 161 shots faced. His 9.66 goals against average is the best in the conference for anyone with more than 2 minutes played this season. Oswald was just named Empire 8 Player of the Week for his career best performance against Castleton where he made 18 saves against 32 shots faced. He followed this up by making five saves on 17 shots faced against SUNY Canton to pick up his second win of the season and move to 2-1 with a .561 save percentage on the season.
 
Scouting Brockport: The Golden Eagles are 1-3 this season and the team picked up its first win of the season its last time out beating Westminster College (PA) 14-10 on Saturday, March 11 in the team's home opener. Jackson Worden leads the team with 14 points this season and a team leading eight assists. Jack Peterson is the team's top scoring threat with eight goals this season while Worden, Nate Askin, and Ryan McCarthy each have netted six. Cameron Kuzniar is the team's goalkeeper and is 1-3 this season with 60 saves, and a .541 save percentage while facing 185 shots this season. This will be the first time the two teams square off since 2017 and just the fourth time ever.
 
Up Next: Utica will host Oswego State on Wednesday, March 22 at 4 p.m.