Utica, NY— Craig DiSanto scored four goals as the Utica College men's lacrosse team improved to 5-16 and 1-2 in the Empire 8 with a 13-7 win over The Sage Colleges at Gaetano Stadium Wednesday. The Gators stand 5-5 and 0-3 in the league.

Jared Smaldon scored three goals and all five of his shots were on goal for Utica. John Avery scored twice and John Hanlon dished out four assists to highlight the home win. Avery had 15 shots on the day, eight at the cage. Harrison Bower made 11 saves in the Utica goal.

Freshman midfielder David Baraniuk (Budd Lake, NY/Mount Olive) continued his excellent first season with four goals (26 on the season), and he also had five of his 10 shots on goal. The Gators had one goal each from freshman attack Matt Fisher (Niskayuna, NY/Colonie) freshman midfielder Shea Obado (Spotswood, NJ/Spotswood) and freshman attack Eric Fairhurst (Wooster, OH/Wooster). Obado had a team best six ground balls. Freshmen Brandon Maresca (Landing, NJ/Roxbury) made 21 saves in the game.

Utica had a 43-28 ground ball advantage and outshot the Gators, 53-28. Utica won 15 face offs and Sage won 10, and the Gators scored two man up goals on five attempts.

Utica led 4-3 after the first period. Fairhurst pulled the Gators to within two at 6-4 with 5:20 left in the second but Utica scored two goals in the final 3:39 of the half for an 8-4 lead at halftime.

Sage plays at Empire 8 opponent Elmira College Saturday, April 6 at 7 p.m. held at Notre Dame High School.