UTICA, NY –
Bill Condon (West Hartford, CT/Conard) scored the game-winner with 1:54 remaining in sudden-death overtime as the Union College men's lacrosse team opened up the 2007 campaign with a 13-12 win over host Utica College. The win marked the first at Union for head coach Paul Wehrum.
To open the scoring
Jon Miller (Yarmouth, ME/Yarmouth) slashed through the middle and scored from 12 yards out on a one-timer from
Tom Simmons (Salisbury, CT/Salisbury) for Union at 12:09.
Utica answered back a little over three minutes later when senior captain
Justin Schmitt bounced a shot off the turf from seven yards out to beat Union goalie
Rob Oram (New Canaan, CT/New Canaan) to tie the game at 1-1.
Jodey McAvoy was credited with the assist on the Pioneers first goal of the season.
Union went up 2-1 with 7:45 left in the first quarter when Miller, a junior midfielder, ripped a shot past Utica goalie
Paul Phelan. Miller's second goal of the game was unassisted. Sophomore midfielder
Kevin Rautenstrauch (West Seneca, NY/St. Francis) stormed up the right hand side of the field and ripped a shot on the run past Phelan's stick side to give the Dutchmen a 3-1 lead with 4:36 left in the first period.
Simmons opened the second period scoring after beating a Pioneer defenseman behind the net and scoring on a wrap-around off the turf to give Union a 4-1 lead with 9:55 left in the half.
McGowan, tallied his first goal of the season at 8:39 in the second period to pull the Pioneers to within two goals of the lead.
Under a minute later
Chris Collison (Trumbull, CT/Trumbull) beat Phelan on an assist from
Charles Hovsepian (Hingham, MA/Hingham) to extend the Dutchmen's lead to 5-2.
Utica answered back with 5:14 left in the half when freshman attacker Michael Bulger connected with Misiaszek in front of the net to cut the lead to 5-3. Bulger cut the Union lead to 5-4 just over a minute later when he scooped up a ground ball 15 yards out and instantly ripped a shot that cruised past Oram's ankles.
At the half Utica led Union 13-11 in shots on goal, but the Dutchmen had a commanding ground ball (36-20) and face off (9-of-11) lead.
Schoen tied the game up 2:10 into the second half after Nick Evanoff picked up a loose ground ball hit Schoen in stride. Schoen's first goal of the season was the Pioneers third-traight unanswered goal.
The Pioneers took their first lead of the game when Tom Collins hit Bulger with a cross-field pass and Bulger let a shot loose from 13 yards out to give UC a 7-6 lead.
The Dutchmen tied the game up at 7-7 when Simmons scored on an assist from
Christopher Jacobson (Northborough, MA/St. Johns) with 5:09 left in the third quarter, and then took the lead back when Miller beat junior replacement goalie
Anthony Carnevale.
The Pioneers tied it up at 8-8 after Aaron Benoit connected with a streaking Misiaszek down the middle beating Oram over the left shoulder.
Union took the lead right back after Simmons hooked up with Hovsepian 2:11 into the fourth quarter.
Utica scored the next three goals to take an 11-9 lead with under 10 minutes left in the game. Kory Buckley netted a behind the back goal, followed by Schoen and Bulger each scoring their second goals of the game.
Matthew Douglas (New York, NY/The Hotchkiss School) gave the Dutchmen a 12-11 lead with 47 seconds left when he beat Carnevale after beating a Pioneer defender behind the net and finding space in front.
Misiaszek scored his fourth goal of the game with just 14 seconds left to send it to overtime but it did not prove to be enough as the Dutchmen fended off several Pioneer overtime opportunities to take the victory.
Miller and Simmons combined for five goals for the Dutchmen, while Oram made 13 stops in the win.
Union improves to 1-0, winning the first game of the season for the second time in the last three seasons. The Dutchmen are back in action on March 3 in a 1 p.m. game at Western New England College.
