Elmira, NY – EC Men's Lacrosse hosted the Pioneers of Utica College in an E8 showdown. Both teams were looking for their first conference win of the year but Elmira would walk away victorious with an 11-7 win.
The Pioneers would take a two goal lead in the first seven minutes of play but Elmira would respond with two straight goals to even it up. Elmira's Kenny Keirstead '11 (Waltham, MA -- Waltham) and Barret Gast '12 (Orchard Park, NY -- Orchard Park) would tally the EC scores. Utica would respond with a goal with 45 seconds remaining in the first period to give them a 3-2 lead entering the second.
Elmira's Tyler Campbell '13 (Mississauga, ONT -- Gordon Graydon Memorial) opened the second quarter with a goal to tie the game at 3. David Evert '14 (Niagara Falls, NY -- Niagara Wheatfield) would register his second assist on the goal. On a man-up opportunity Jackson Correia '14 (Simsbury, CT -- The Masters School) put Elmira up 4-3 as he scored on a shot around the shoulder at the 11:22 mark.
Utica evened it up at 4-4 but the Soaring Eagles would rally for two straight goals from Rick Acorn '12 (Barrie, ONT -- Innisdale) and Keirstead. As the period came to a conclusion the Pioneers would get to within one on a goal with just 1:38 remaining, brining the score to 6-5.
At the 6:42 mark in the third period Adam Walker '11 (Corning, NY -- Corning East) stretched the EC lead to two as he score on a pass from Keirstead. Elmira's goal would be the only score of the period as Elmira shutdown the Utica offense for zero goals in the period.
Just 54 seconds into the fourth quarter Utica would close the gap to 1 with a man-up goal. EC's Walker would respond with a man-up goal of his own to bring the lead to 2 at the 13:01 mark. With 10:45 remaining Utica would score to bring the score to 8-7.
Elmira would close the game with 3 unanswered goals to claim their first E8 victory of the 2011 season, 11-7. Dave Bucchino '14 (Cedar Grove, NJ -- Bow) was a force between the pipes as he stopped 19 shots in a winning effort.
The Soaring Eagles take the field again on Wednesday, April 27th as they host the Ducks of Stevens Tech. Face-off is set for 4:00 p.m. at Campus Field in Elmira, NY.
Elmira 11 Utica 7
Box Score
