Brockport squeaks out victory over Utica
- Brayden Peters
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
By: Brayden Peters / Assistant Sports Director
BROCKPORT, N.Y. - The Brockport Golden Eagles men's lacrosse team hung on to beat Utica 10-9 on Brockport's Senior Day. In a back-and-forth contest, the Golden Eagles' performance in the second quarter was just enough to get the win.
"A win's a win for sure," Brockport senior midfielder Jack Rice said. "It doesn't matter if it's by 20 or by one, but obviously we hoped for a little bit more of a gap, especially being Senior Day. We got it done, what more can you really ask for."
Brockport scored two unanswered goals to open up the second quarter to take a 5-4 lead. Utica then tied the game with 7:33 remaining in the frame. Junior attacker Ryan Hollenbeck scored back door on a left-handed shot that found the bottom right corner of the net.
The Golden Eagles squeaked out one more goal before the end of the quarter thanks to graduate attacker Carson Colucci. With 5:48 remaining, he received a feed from senior midfielder Nate Askin after finding an opening in the hole. Colucci proceeded to bury a right-handed shot into the bottom left corner of the net to snap the tie.
Brockport outshot the Pioneers 12-to-five in the quarter. Self-inflicted wounds also hurt Utica in the frame, recording six turnovers compared to the Golden Eagles' two.
Colucci would lead Brockport in points with four on four goals. With his performance, Colucci has 20 goals this season and is over the 20-point mark for the season with 23 points. He is now tied with Rice for second in points on the Golden Eagles.
"I don't think it's just me, I think our offense is really clicking," Colucci said. "We're moving the ball forward, we're getting those slides and people are getting open. I'm kind of just on the receiving end of it, getting in the right places. My teammates are finding me for great looks. We're following the scouting report and just shooting the ball."
Senior goalie Jack Acker got the start in between the pipes for the Golden Eagles. He made five saves for a 35.7 save percentage.
Askin started off the first quarter with a bang for Brockport, giving the team a 1-0 lead less than two minutes into the frame. He ripped a left-handed shot into the top left corner of the net.
Although it took a bit for the Pioneers to respond, they tied the game up with 7:37 left in the quarter. Junior midfielder Noah Erickson found the top right corner of the cage on a left-handed shot.
The Golden Eagles would snap the tie a little over two minutes after Erickson's goal and score two unanswered in 40 seconds. However, Utica would come back with three straight goals all in under a minute to take a 4-3 lead and close out the first quarter. The Pioneers outshot Brockport 10-to-six in the frame.
Brockport would go on to outscore Utica 3-1 in the second quarter and outshoot the Pioneers to take a 6-5 lead entering halftime.
Both sides were quiet in the first five minutes of the second half, as both offenses started stalling out and were unable to create high scoring chances consistently. That changed with 6:55 left in the third quarter, as the Golden Eagles would score two more unanswered goals to take a 8-5 lead.
Utica would storm right back and score another three consecutive goals to tie the game up at eight apiece.
Brockport would proceed to go on a two unanswered goal streak that was split between the third and fourth quarters. The Pioneers outshot Brockport nine-to-seven in the third frame.
Both teams were relatively quiet in the fourth quarter. Turnovers from Utica and shot clock violations from the Golden Eagles slowed down both sides' offensive production.
Utica was unable to get back onto the board with 1:23 left in the frame to cut the deficit to one. Junior attacker Nolan Shea cut towards the crease with the ball and found the top right corner of the net on a right-handed shot.
The Pioneers had possession of the ball with under a minute left in the contest. However, a clutch save from Acker on a left-handed shot from sophomore midfielder Lucas Donahue, including a clutch ground ball in a 50/50 battle from senior midfielder Nick Maslin, put the game away for Brockport.
"It's a testament to the guys for staying in it and staying focused," Brockport head coach Nick Fiorentino said. "We weren't at our absolute best today and that's going to happen sometimes. We fought through it, we faced adversity for 60 minutes and good teams find a way to win games and that's exactly what we did. I let them know at the end of the game, I was like, 'Guys, you got a lot to be proud of here.' We found a way to win a game that was chaotic at times and messy at times."
With the win, the Golden Eagles improved to a 6-6 record and are 3-2 in Empire 8 play. They remain in fourth in the conference.
As for Utica, the team dropped to 5-7 with the loss and are 2-3 in Empire 8 play. They sit in sixth place in the standings.
Brockport will head off to take on St. John Fisher next Wednesday. Face-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.
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