UTICA, NY - Utica University's men's lacrosse team is set to close its 2026 regular season with two road games over the coming week. On Wednesday, April 22nd, the squad will travel to Wright Stadium to challenge Hartwick before facing SUNY Geneseo at College Stadium on Saturday. Opening draws are set for 4:00 and 1:00 pm, respectively, as the Pioneers will push for the program's first postseason home game.

Follow Along: The video stream for the game against Hartwick can be found HERE, with live stats found HERE. For the Geneseo matchup, the video will be available HERE, with live stats found HERE.

Last Week's Recap: Utica enters the final week of the regular season riding a five-game winning streak after a strong 2-0 showing last week, highlighted by dominant offense and depth across the lineup. The Pioneers opened with an 18-4 win over Russell Sage, scoring the first 12 goals of the contest and controlling every phase. Ryan Considine (Syracuse, NY/West Genesee) led the effort with eight points (3g, 5a), while Nolan Shea (Williston, VT/Champlain Valley Union) added five points and a hat trick as 13 different Pioneers found the back of the net. Utica held decisive advantages in shot attempts (72-19) and ground balls (47-25), while limiting the Gators to just nine shots on goal.

That momentum carried into Senior Day, where Utica secured a key 14-12 conference win over Alfred to strengthen its postseason positioning. Lucas Donahue (Burnt Hills, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) led the attack with five goals and an assist, while Noah Erickson (Auburn, NY/Auburn) and Considine each added two goals. The Pioneers saw contributions throughout the roster, with 14 players recording a point, and leaned on timely fourth-quarter scoring to pull away in a tightly contested matchup. Defensively, Colin Musso (Auburn, NY/Auburn) anchored the effort with four caused turnovers and seven ground balls, while Jake Bowen (Williston, VT/Champlain Valley Union) made 11 saves in net to help Utica close out the win. The victory marked the program's first result over Alfred since the 2017 season, and clinched an E8 Tournament appearance for the first time since 2013.

The Postseason Ahead: With a postseason berth already secured, Utica enters the final week with positioning still very much in play. The Pioneers (5-2 in Empire 8) can finish as high as the #2 seed or as low as #5, with critical matchups against Hartwick and SUNY Geneseo likely determining their path. Due to Utica not holding head-to-head tiebreakers against Nazareth or St. John Fisher, climbing to the #2 proves to be an especially difficult path, but a strong finish could still secure a home game in the opening round, which is reserved for the top four seeds in the six-team format.

If Utica lands in the #3 or #4 spot, they would host a first-round matchup against one of the bubble teams such as Alfred, Brockport, or Hartwick, depending on how the standings shake out. A slide to #5 would send the Pioneers on the road for the opening round, likely against a similarly clustered middle seed like Geneseo or Hartwick. With several teams tightly packed in the standings behind the top two, Utica's final two conference games carry significant weight, not just for seeding, but also for securing a favorable matchup and avoiding an early road test in what shapes up to be a tightly contested Empire 8 tournament field.

Hawk's Eye View: Hartwick's men's lacrosse team has followed a very similar story to Utica's 2026 season. The squad began the season with six straight non-conference losses to strong opponents, some of whom were common opponents of the Pioneers (Oswego State and Farmingdale State). In seven Empire 8 matchups, the Hawks are 4-3, losing only to the conference's strongest teams while defeating lower-ranked opponents by nearly identical scores to those against Utica. The squad's in-conference schedule began with another three-consecutive losses, now to SUNY Geneseo (11-6), SUNY Brockport (10-7), and Nazareth (30-7). Hartwick has gone undefeated in their last four games, taking down Russell Sage (18-5), Alfred (18-14), SUNY Poly (16-10), and Keuka (20-8).

The Hawks' offense has been far and away led by Colin August, who has scored 53 of the team's 145 total goals, adding two assists as well. Spencer Hogaboom and Mason Adams lead the team with 14 assists apiece, followed closely by Liam McManus with 13. McManus has netted 26 goals, and Hogaboom has beaten the keeper 16 times as the offense's other top contributors. August has been a key player in transition as well, leading the team in both caused turnovers (22) and ground balls (58). Junior Kaiden Johnson has played the majority of the time between the pipes, posting a .525 save percentage and a 14.77 goals allowed average in 511:56 of play.

Knowing the Knights: The SUNY Geneseo Knights present a strong challenge for the Pioneers in their final matchup before the conference postseason tournament. Sitting at 8-5 overall and 4-2 in the conference, Geneseo is positioning itself to be in a tight seeding battle with Utica. The Knights went 4-3 in their early non-conference schedule, including one-goal wins against opponents such as Ithaca (8-7), St. Mary's (MD) (17-16), and Oneonta (10-9). Ahead of their matchup with the Pioneers, Geneseo will complete the final half of a postponed game against Keuka and host Alfred University.

The Geneseo attack is headed by the senior duo of Ronnie and Ryan Trebing. Ronnie has scored a team-high 38 goals and 47 points, while Ryan has complemented Ronnie with 23 goals and a team-high 16 assists. Sophomore defender Sam Myung leads the squad with 21 caused turnovers, also sitting high in the ground ball count (42). Junior defender Aidan Crane has pulled in the most ground balls for the team, with 46. Sophomore Ben Bradshaw has played the majority of the season between the pipes for Geneseo, posting a .504 save percentage and an 11.41 goals allowed average.

Up Next: The team completes its regular season after the two road matchups. With a playoff berth already clinched, the postseason schedule will rely on the upcoming shifts in seeding among participants. If Utica can secure the #2 seed, it will earn a first-round bye or earn a first-round home game with either the #3 or #4 seed. If the Pioneers slide to the #5 seed, they would not host another home game in 2026 unless in the case of a #5 vs #6 championship game.