ONEONTA, NY - Utica University's men's lacrosse team hit the road to begin the final week of regular season play, taking on the Hartwick College Hawks at Wright Stadium. The teams battled tight, but a home-team strike with 29 seconds remaining sealed the deal. With a playoff berth already clinched, the Pioneers will face off with SUNY Geneseo in the final regular-season game.
Nine Utica players recorded a point, led by attackman
Ryan Considine (Syracuse, NY/West Genesee) with five (1g, 4a).
Ryan Hollenbeck (Baldwinsville, NY/Charles W. Baker) and
Lucas Donahue (Burnt Hills, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) turned in matching three-goal, one-assist stat lines, followed by each of
Michael Reid (Tully, NY/Tully) and
Noah Erickson (Auburn, NY/Auburn) with two goals.
Nolan Shea (Williston, VT/Champlain Valley Union) and
Chase Nappi (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) each turned in both one goal and an assist, while
Logan Waterman (Ava, NY/Rome Free Academy) and
Danny Dunn (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) notched assists to complete the orange and blue's point scoring.
Vincent Bernardo (Ossining, NY/Ossining) and
James McDonald (Porters Corners, NY/Albany Academy) tied to lead the team with two caused turnovers apiece, while faceoff specialist Nappi pulled in an astonishing 15 ground balls, one of just two players in the game with more than four, and eight more than the game's second-best. At the X, Nappi won 17-of-20 draws, with
Cade Bourcy (Syracuse, NY/Skaneateles) contributing at a 4-of-10 rate. In net,
Jake Bowen (Williston, VT/Champlain Valley Union) made nine saves.
10 of the 14 Hawk goals were scored by three players: Spencer Hogaboom (four), Liam McManus (three), and Colby Simonetti (three). McManus added two assists to lead the team with five points. Colin August (1g, 2a) was the only other multi-point player for Hartwick, while each of Mason Adams, Steve Grossman, and Ryan Nevin netted one goal, and Ty Crowley added his only helper on the game-winner. August led the game with five caused turnovers, while faceoff specialist Owen Ryan led the team with seven ground balls. He took 28 faceoffs, winning nine, while Crowley lost the remaining two attempts. Goalie Kaiden Johnson was crucial to the Hartwick victory, making 22 saves on 35 shots faced.
The hosts opened the scoring 1:36 into play when Hogaboom finished a pass from McManus. On the ensuing faceoff, a quick win by Nappi gave way to an equalizing goal just six seconds later. Play settled until 10:29 remained, when Nevins found the back of the net to reestablish a Hartwick lead. In the mid-first quarter, Utica used a three-goal run within 2:34 to jump ahead 4-2. Considine scored off a feed from Dunn, before an unassisted goal by Donahue and a score by Hollenbeck from Waterman ended the orange and blue's scoring in the frame. McManus beat Bowen with two minutes left to close the scoring on the first quarter with Utica up 4-3.
At 1:26 into the second quarter, Hogaboom and McManus repeated their scoring play to tie the game. It took another four minutes for Shea to give Utica another lead, but the most productive quarter of the game really began in the final six minutes. At 6:08 left, August netted a man-up goal, and 44 seconds later, McManus found the back of the net to give Hartwick its first lead since the early first quarter. The Pioneers responded with another quick three-goal run, scoring a combined hat trick within 1:22 of play, spanning 4:33 to 3:11. Reid scored the first and the last, sandwiching a Hollenbeck goal. Assists on the goals went to Hollenbeck, Nappi, and Considine. Simonetti cut the lead to one with 2:11 left before Donahue finished a feed from Shea to enter halftime with the orange and blue leading 9-7.
After Utica outscored the hosts by one in each of the first two quarters, the tides started to shift out of the halftime break. Despite Erickson and Considine combining on a goal just 1:01 into play, Hartwick scored four of the remaining five goals in the frame. Hogaboom netted each of the first two, with 8:24 and 4:42 remaining, with credit to August on the earlier goal. The Pioneers struck back with another Erickson goal, this time from Donahue, but back-to-back unassisted goals by Simonetti with 1:10 and 0:13 remaining closed the third quarter with the game tied back up 11-11.
In a deadlocked game, the early fourth quarter was intense, as neither team scored for the first 8:47. McManus netted a goal for the home squad to take a lead, before 1:19 later, Grossman and August combined to give Hartwick a two-goal lead. Under a minute later, Hollenbeck finished a feed from Considine to cut the lead to one. With pressure mounting, Utica kept attacking with Donahue breaking through off another Considine assist with 1:38 remaining to tie the game at 13-13. After a late save by Johnson, back-to-back turnovers in transition gave way to an Adams goal from Crowley with 29 seconds left. Utica was unable to attempt a shot in the remaining time, falling 14-13 in its eighth consecutive loss to Hartwick.
The Pioneers have just one game remaining on the regular season schedule. On Saturday, April 25th, the orange and blue will head to College Stadium to take on the SUNY Geneseo Knights. Opening faceoff is set for 1:00 pm. With a playoff berth clinched, be sure to follow Utica Athletics on social media, and check uticapioneers.com for the most up-to-date information on the postseason as it becomes available.
