UTICA, NY (April 13, 2022) -- Junior Mitchell Kozak (Floral Park, N.Y. / Floral Park Memorial) scored a career-high five goals to carry the University of Scranton men's lacrosse team to a well-earned 15-7 non-conference win at Utica College on Wednesday afternoon. 

With the win, Scranton has now won three straight game and improves to 7-5 on the season.

The Royals dominated the majority of the first period of action as Kozak opened the game with three consecutive goals for the Royals in the first period to notch an early hat trick and give his team a 3-0 lead. Senior Cole Lukasiewicz (Havertown, Pa. / Haverford) and junior Matt Solleder (Ramsey, N.J. / Don Bosco Prep) then scored back-to-back goals in less than 30 seconds to increase Scranton's lead to 5-0 with just over four minutes remaing in the first quarter. Utica scored a pair of late goals to cut Royals' lead to 5-2 headed inton the second period. 

It was all Scranton in the second quarter as Kozak scored a pair to bring his tally on the day to five, while sophomore Matthew McAree (Manhasset, N.Y. / Manhasset) also found the back of the net in the second. The Royals held a convincing 8-2 advantage headed into the break. 

The Pioneers scored first in the third period but Scranton came back strong with three consecutive goals to end the period. McAree notched his second of the day in the third quarter followed by the first goal of the season for junior Christopher Goria (St. James, N.Y. / Smithtown East) at the 2:11 mark. Fellow junior Dillon Malyniak (Commack, N.Y. / Commack) added a late tally to close out the third period as the Royals led 11-3 headed into the fourth. 

Scranton held strong in the final period, and added four more goals to secure a 15-7 win over the Pioneers. In the final three minutes of the game, sophomore Dominic Gubitosi (Moorestown, N.J.) scored the first goal of his career. 

The Royals outshot Utica 62-31 in the game and went 3-3 on extra man opportunities. Freshman goalkeeper Evan Rosa (Weehawken, N.J. / Pennington School) gathered 11 saves for Scranton while junior Ryan Turck (Floral Park, N.Y. / Floral Park Memorial) recorded seven ground balls and one caused turnover on the defensive end. 

Kozak finished with a career-high five goals to lead the Royals while, McAree added a two goals and two assists.

The University of Scranton men's lacrosse team returns to action this Saturday when they visit Goucher at 1:00 PM in Towson, MD.

--ROYALS--