Box l Updated stats
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Nazareth defeated visiting Utica 17-1 in a men's Empire 8 Conference lacrosse game on Wednesday afternoon. Junior Troy Haefele amassed 10 points on six goals and four assists, and he has 14 goals and eight assists in the Golden Flyers' last three games. Nazareth received goals from 10 additional players to overwhelm the Pioneers' defense. The Golden Flyers' stingy defense had a scoreless streak of 69 minutes and 53 seconds spanning the end of the game against Elmira on March 28th and most of the first three quarters on Wednesday.

With the victory, Nazareth improves to 8-2 overall and 3-0 in conference contests. Following the loss, Utica drops to 6-3 overall and 1-1 in Empire 8 games. The Golden Flyers and Ithaca are the only two teams in the Empire 8 with identical 3-0 conference records. Nazareth hosts the Bombers on April 11th.

The first 10:28 of Wednesday's contest was scoreless before the Golden Flyers found the back of the net three times in a span of 2:17. Junior Luke Wooters set up the first two goals, one pass going to Haefele and another going to classmate Matt O'Neill. Senior Matt McDermott scored the third goal on the man-up opportunity after receiving a pass from Haefele.

In the second quarter, the Golden Flyers took command with nine goals in a span of just over nine minutes. Nazareth's scoring run was aided by penalties by the Pioneers, who had three penalties in the period, including a two-minute non-releasable infraction. Senior Will Fallo started the run, which was followed by a man-up goal from sophomore Joe Eiskant. Less than a minute after Eiskant's goal, Wooters found the back of the net after receiving a pass from Haefele. With just under six minutes left in the half, sophomore Luke Longo scored his fourth goal of the season to put Nazareth up 7-0. Haefele tallied the next four Golden Flyers' goals, including three during Nazareth's two-minute man-up opportunity. Wooters and Eiskant each had a pair of assists on Haefele's scores. In the final minute of the period, junior Dan O'Brien stretched the Golden Flyers' lead to 12-0 after collecting a pass from sophomore Hunter Burdick.

Less than two minutes into the third, Burdick found Haefele for his sixth goal of the game and 25th of the season. Burdick scored an unassisted goal, his sixth score of the season, roughly two minutes later. Wooters and freshman Paul Walter also scored to extend Nazareth's lead to 16 goals. With 51 seconds to play in the third, Ryan Desveaux put Utica on the board with a man-up goal. It was his 12th of the season, which ranks second on the Pioneers' team.

In the fourth quarter, Nazareth freshman Nick Rodin recorded his first-career goal. Junior Connor McKercher was credited with the assist for his fifth point of the season.

The Golden Flyers' powerful attack was helped again by Drew Simoneau's proficiency on faceoffs. Entering the game ranked fourth nationally in faceoff winning percentage at .725, the senior won 13-16 faceoffs (.813) on Wednesday. Simoneau also entered Wednesday ranked in the top-five in ground balls collected at 9.0 per game. He finished with a game-high 10 ground balls against the Pioneers. Simoneau has 895 career faceoff victories and 684 career ground balls.

Nazareth dominated Utica in all statistical categories. Nazareth had advantages in shots (47-16), ground balls (35-20), faceoff wins (15-5), and forced 25 turnovers. Senior Jerry Chasteen and Longo combined to force seven turnovers.

Sophomore Michael Cuciti played the first 50:17 in Nazareth's net and made five saves to earn the victory. Freshman Rick Kronenwett saw action between the pipes in the final 10 minutes and was credited with four saves. Andrew DiOrio played 58:26 and amassed 15 saves while allowing 16 of Nazareth's goals. Kobi Johnson replaced DiOrio temporarily in the first quarter after DiOrio was whistled for a cross-check. While Johnson held the Golden Flyers scoreless during the man-up chance, Nazareth scored its second goal before DiOrio could return to the field.

Haefele recently surpassed the 100-career goals milestone, and he now has 111. Wooters, who tallied two goals and a game-high six assists against the Pioneers, has 113 career goals and 87 assists. With his 200 points, Wooters is tied for fourth all-time in total points. Haefele's 176 career points places him ninth in all-time scoring.

The Golden Flyers will look to stretch their winning streak to seven games when Nazareth travels to Hartwick for another conference game on Saturday.