Farmingdale State - 8, Utica - 7
UTICA, N.Y. | Behind a four-goal performance from freshman attack
Ethan Vargas (Bay Shore, N.Y.) and 13 saves from junior goalkeeper
Connor Dobson (Islip, N.Y.), the Farmingdale State men's lacrosse team remained perfect in 2026 with an 8-7 road victory at Utica University on Tuesday afternoon.
FSC (4-0) struck first midway through the opening quarter when Vargas finished off a feed from sophomore midfielder Nicholas Mistler (Patchogue, N.Y.). The Rams held the Pioneers (0-2) scoreless in the opening 15 minutes as Dobson made five saves.
Utica tied the contest early in the second before junior Joey Forchelli (Seaford, N.Y.) answered with an unassisted tally to regain the advantage. The teams traded goals over the next several minutes with FSC senior Casey Fortunato (Northport, N.Y.) and Vargas each finding the back of the net.
Vargas capped off his first-half hat trick with 29 seconds remaining in the second quarter off an assist from junior Adam Giovinco (Syosset, N.Y.), giving Farmingdale State a 5-3 lead at the break
The Rams extended their lead to 6-3 early in the third when Forchelli buried his second goal of the afternoon, but Utica responded with consecutive scores to pull within one. Vargas answered once again at the 5:26 mark of the third, finishing a pass from junior long-stick midfielder Sean Lawson (Mattituck, N.Y.) to push the lead back to two at 7-5.
Leading 7-6 in the fourth quarter, Farmingdale State received a goal from Fortunato, who converted off a feed from Giovinco, with 8:19 remaining to make it 8-6.
Utica would score once more to cut the deficit to 8-7 with 3:44 to play, but Dobson made a pair of stops in the final minutes to secure the 8-7 win.
Vargas led all scorers with four goals on eight shots, while Fortunato and Forchelli each added two goals. Giovinco and Mistler both dished out two assists, and Lawson contributed an assist along with five ground balls and three caused turnovers.
Defensively, sophomore Matt Durnin (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) recorded three caused turnovers and classmate Logan Reese (West Islip, N.Y.) contributed one CT and four ground balls.
The men's lacrosse team will next play host to Eastern Connecticut in a non-conference game on Friday, March 6th at 4:00 p.m.
