EDWARDSVILLE – The Wilkes University men's lacrosse team cut a five-point Utica University lead down to two late in the fourth quarter only to see the Pioneers score the final three goals to close the game and secure an 18-13 non-conference victory Saturday afternoon at Schmidt Stadium.
 
Wilkes fell to 4-5 overall following the home defeat while Utica improved its record to 4-3 on the season.
 
Utica built a five goal lead with 1:16 left in the third quarter as the Pioneers held a 15-10 advantage heading into the final frame.
 
Wilkes began its furious comeback with a man-up goal from Dillon Kadis (McSherrystown, PA/Delone Catholic) thanks to a pass from Luke Palladino (Wantagh, NY/Wantagh) with 13:11 remaining in the game. Three minutes later Eric Ormsby (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley) notched his 22^nd goal of the season thanks to an assist from Ethan Weaver (Olney, MD/James Hubert Blake) to cut the deficit to 15-12. After another three minutes of scoreless play, Kadis cashed in on his tenth strike of the year when he darted around two Utica defenders and found the back of the net pulling the Colonels to within two at 15-13 with 7:16 left.
 
From there, Utica scored the final three goals of the game as Gage Fiacco scored at 5:59 and Sam Serrano connected on his game-high fourth and fifth goals of the game to push the lead back to five and seal the road victory for the Pioneers.
 
Wilkes opened the game with two straight goals as Weaver and Ormsby scored back-to-back with the latter being on the man-advantage. Utica answered with two consecutive goals to tie the game at two before Alex Myers (Cortland, NY/Cortland) found Weaver for a his second goal to give the Colonels a 3-2 lead with 6:01 left in the first quarter.
 
After a Wilkes goal, including a Weaver assist that marked the 100^th point of his career, Utica scored the final three goals of the opening frame to take a 5-4 lead after one.
 
A goal from Palladino and two from Myers gave Wilkes its largest advantage of the game up 7-5 with 8:05 left in the half. Utica responded scoring five of the next six goals to take a slim 10-8 lead to the break.
 
Utica held a slim 48-43 shot advantage while the Colonels made good on 26-of-30 clearing attempts. Utica also held a 49-40 ground ball advantage throughout the contest.
 
Myers and Weaver led four Colonels with four or more points as Myers finished with two goals and three assists while Weaver collected five points on two goals and three helpers including his 100^th career point in the Navy and Gold late in the first stanza. Ormsby followed with four points on four goals while Palladino notched four points on two goals and two assists.
 
Serrano led all Utica scorers with five goals on six shots on goal.
 
Ryan Lasher (Warrenton, VA/Liberty) finished with 16 saves in the losing effort while Jon Goodspeed made eight stops to earn the win in net for the Pioneers.
 
Wilkes continues its three-game home stretch Wednesday when the Colonels welcome Delaware Valley University in both squads MAC Freedom opener at 7:00 p.m. at Schmidt Stadium.