UTICA, NY - Utica University's men's lacrosse team hosted the SUNY Brockport Golden Eagles in a home Empire 8 matchup. The contest was played in honor of Mike Parnell, a major figure in the men's lacrosse program, and a head coach for a majority of the program's existence. The Pioneers played best at the bookends of the game, scoring nine of their goals in either the first or fourth quarter. Utica is currently riding a three-game win streak within the conference and will look to add another in an upcoming home game against Russell Sage College this coming Wednesday.
The offense of the orange and blue was balanced in the outing, with eight different players recording a point, and three of them finishing with either three or four. Junior captain
Ryan Considine (Syracuse, NY/West Genesee) led the squad with two goals and two assists, Utica's only player to achieve a fourth point.
Michael Reid (Tully, NY/Tully),
Danny Dunn (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool),
Nolan Shea (Williston, VT/Champlain Valley Union), and
Ryan Hollenbeck (Baldwinsville, NY/Charles W. Baker) each finished with three total points. Reid and Dunn both recorded theirs via two goals and one assist, while Shea and Hollenbeck flipped the stat line, scoring once and helping twice. No other Pioneer recorded an assist, while
Lucas Donahue (Burnt Hills, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) scored twice, and both
Logan Waterman (Ava, NY/Rome Free Academy) and
Noah Erickson (Auburn, NY/Auburn) scored once. The Pioneers combined for four total caused turnovers, each by a separate player.
Chase Nappi (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna), one half of the Pioneers' primary faceoff unit, led the team with seven ground balls, three more than any of his teammates. At the X, Nappi went 7-of-12, while
Cade Bourcy (Syracuse, NY/Skaneateles) went 6-of-11.
Michael Mecca (Oceanside, NY/Oceanside) added one faceoff draw, which he won. Between the pipes, senior
Jake Bowen (Williston, VT/Champlain Valley Union) made 11 saves in the victory.
The Golden Eagles' offense was spearheaded by Daniel Wright, who netted four goals. The junior midfielder was the only multi-goal player for Brockport, taking 16 of the team's 42 shot attempts. Brenden McClay was the only other multi-point Golden Eagle, both netting and assisting one goal. Marc Zappulla, Jacobs Pierson, and Rorick Perry each scored once to round out the visitors' scoring. Austin Thornhill pulled in seven ground balls for Brockport, joining a three-way tie with Pierson and Daniel Stiles for the team lead with two caused turnovers. Cody Whittaker took all but one faceoff draw for Brockport, winning nine of 23. Jared Kulik played in the net for the visitors, making nine saves.
The Pioneers owned the first quarter, jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the first 15:00. Reid finished a feed from Shea 2:09 into the game to open the scoring, before teams settled into 1-0 play for the next 5:30. Donahue netted the second of the game unassisted before Erickson netted his second of the season just under a minute later, with 6:28 remaining. Just over a minute apart, at the 4:09 and 3:08 marks, Dunn and Considine netted the final of the frame for Utica. Hollenbeck added a helper on Dunn's score, with Reid assisting on Considine's.
Exactly three minutes into the second quarter, Perry struck back for Brockport, ending the Pioneers' scoring streak at five. Play continued one for the next 8:21 until Wright cut another into the Utica lead. McClay broke through with 2:20 left to close the orange and blue's lead to 5-3. Within the final minute of the half, penalties shifted the tides, allowing the Pioneers to score man-up goals with 40 and 18 seconds remaining to enter halftime up 7-3.
The Golden Eagles opened the scoring in the second half, with Zappulla netting a solo goal with 12:34 left in the third. Exactly a minute later, Wright added a man-up goal of his own to cut Utica's lead back to two. Nearly six minutes later, Wright scored again to bring Brockport back within one. With 4:43 left, Hollenbeck finished a feed from Shea to close the third quarter with the orange and blue up 8-6.
The Pioneers pushed strongly to open the final frame, netting unassisted goals with 11:32 and 8:49 remaining. Shea scored the first on the man advantage, with Dunn scoring the second during even-strength play. With a four-goal lead, the Pioneers played for possession, running significant portions off the shot clock before taking attempts at the goal. Despite the slowed pace of play, Utica added goals from Reid and Considine with 6:09 and 5:08 left, assisted by Hollenbeck and Dunn. The orange and blue did not score again, but a 12-6 lead withstood goals by Wright and Jacobs within the final 4:15. When the final seconds ticked off the clock, the Pioneers led 12-8, taking their third straight victory.
Utica men's lacrosse will continue a late-season home stretch next Wednesday, April 15th, against Russell Sage College. Opening faceoff is set for 4:00 pm at Gaetano Stadium.
