UTICA, NY- The Utica University men's lacrosse team defeated Empire 8 foe Russell Sage College 14-9 for its first E8 win of the season.
 
Sam Serrano (Stone Ridge, NY/Roundout Valley) tied his season high with five points with three goals and two assists. He scored the first goal of the game off a beautiful feed from Connor Costanza (Deer Park, NY/Deer Park). Serrano finished with two more in the fourth quarter to ultimately set the Pioneers apart. The attack line of Serrano, Spoto and Shea combined for seven goals on 15 shots. 
 
Kevin O'Brien-Bruno (Goshen, NY/Don Bosco), Hayden Sachel (Fulton, NY/G. Ray Bodley), Connor Costanza (Deer Park, NY/Deer Park), Andrew Sacco (New Haven, CT/North Haven) and Noah Erickson (Auburn, NY/Auburn) each had one goal apiece. Luke Rinaudo-Concessi (Babylon, NY/West Babylon) and Caiden Frey (Accord, NY/Roundout Valley) had one apple each. 
 
Josh Bennet, Zach Lawas (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) and Jack Hogan (Lindenhurst, NY/Lindenhurst) had a phenomenal day controlling faceoffs going 22-5 overall. Bennet went 16-for-19 and scooped up seven ground balls. Hogan went 4-for-5 and Lawas finished the day 2-for-3. 
 
In goal, Patrick Oswald (Deer Park, NY/Deer Park) compiled eight saves, only allowing three goals in the first half. 
 
Defensively Ethan Brown (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Forks), Zach Shaler (Utica, NY/Whitesboro), Michael Mecca (Oceanside, NY/Oceanside) and Andrew Sacco (New Haven, CT/North Haven) tallied 14 groun balls. Brown held Sage's leading point producer, Bailey Martin to two assists and one goal on only one shot. 
 
Utica outshot Sage 55-to-26 and controlled the ground ball department 36-to-17. Each team went 1-for-3 on extra man opportunities. 
 
The Pioneers led 7-3 at halftime. O'Brien-Bruno's goal with 2:17 left in the first quarter gave the team momentum heading into the second and ultimately into the half. The team scored five unanswered going into the fourth quarter, which proved to be a heavy display of offense for both sides. Both teams scored five goals apiece over the final 15 minutes of play as the Pioneers propelled to their first league win of 2023. 
 
Utica (5-7, 1-1 Empire 8) will travel to St. John Fisher University on Saturday for a 1 p.m. game against the Cardinals.