Elmira College (4-8, 1-6) at Utica College (3-11, 2-5 Empire 8)
Saturday, April 30, 2016 | 1:00 p.m. | Charles A. Gaetano Stadium - Utica, NY
Live Coverage

Elmira, NY -- The Elmira College men's lacrosse team will travel to Utica College on Saturday, April 30th, at 1:00 p.m., to face off against the Pioneers in the 2016 regular season finale.

Last Time Out
The second-ranked Bombers of Ithaca College handed the Soaring Eagles a 22-3 Empire 8 Conference loss on April 27th. Ithaca scored seven goals in each of the first three quarters to build an insurmountable lead. EC received a goal from Nevin Olney '18 in the second quarter, and tallies from Anthony LaRusso '17 and Skyler Pradelski '16 in the fourth. Goalie Cameron Prior '17 had a busy afternoon between the pipes, as the Bombers fired 46 shots on goal. Although the defense had a hard time containing the E8's highest-scoring offense, Prior did more than his share of the heavy lifting, registering a season-high-tying 24 saves.

Props For Prior
Between March 19th and April 9th, the Soaring Eagles did a tremendous job limiting opponents' offenses to single-digit goals in four of the five contests in that span, en route to a 3-2 record. In the four games since, the opposition is averaging over 19 goals per game. Despite the inflated number of goals allowed, third-year goaltender Cameron Prior '17 is hard to blame. The Malden, MA, native leads the Empire 8 Conference with an average of 16.92 saves per game, seventh-most in all of NCAA Division III men's lacrosse. Additionally, his .575 save percentage ranks second in the league and 37th in the country. As a team, Elmira enters the final game of the season with one of the best goals-against average in recent memory. Through 12 games, Prior has backstopped the Purple and Gold to a 12.58 goals-against average; the last time Elmira has seen an average below 13.00 was in 2007, when Geoffrey Lane '10 guided the team to a 12.83 GAA.

All-Time Series
The Pioneers hold an 8-5 advantage in the series since 2003. Utica has won four consecutive conference meetings against Elmira, including a 9-6 decision over the Soaring Eagles in 2015. EC's last victory over the E8 rival was in 2011 by a score of 11-7.

Scouting Utica
Utica recently snapped a four-game losing skid with a 11-10 victory over Hartwick College on Wednesday, bumping the Pioneers' record to 3-11 overall and 2-5 in conference. The 2016 season will mark the first below .500 since 2011 for Utica. First-year attackman Dominic Castiglia has been the go-to guy on offense, entering the weekend with a team-leading 37 goals and 46 points. Senior Alex Finnegan has thrived as a feeder, as 25 of his 36 points have come on assists. In goal, senior Andrew DiOrio has started 11 games, but has taken the loss in all of them. He owns a goals-against average of 16.41, while the team sits second-to-last in the E8, allowing an average of with a 13.43 goals per game. DiOrio's backup, junior Parker Smith, has performed well in his limited action; he's won 2-of-3 starts and boasts a healthy 7.41 GAA and .543 save percentage in his 170-plus minutes of relief.