FOUR UNANSWERED GOALS SPARK COMEBACK WIN FOR UTICA

Utica, N.Y. – Utica City went up 3-0 early, then trailed 5-3 before ripping off four unanswered goals to come away with a 7-5 victory over the Harrisburg Heat Sunday afternoon at the Adirondack Bank Center. Cristhian Segura led the way with three goals, while Bo Jelovac, Liam Callahan, Jake Schindler, and Nate Bourdeau all chipped in a goal apiece. Andrew Coughlin made 11 saves in the win.

Not much offense was generated in the first 12 minutes of the game. That changed when Segura caught the Harrisburg keeper out of the net and chipped him from the yellow line. Jelovac doubled the lead when he finished a pass on a two-on-one rush from Nate Bourdeau.

Callahan continued the run 17 seconds into the second quarter when he spotted a loose ball in front of the Harrisburg net and pounded a shot into the top corner. JJ Gibson responded a minute later to cut Utica’s lead to 3-1. Dominic Francis brought Harrisburg back within one with 12:22 to go in the second quarter after a breakdown in front of the Utica net saw Coughlin caught out of his net. 

Marcel Berry tied the game at three on a fast break two and a half minutes into the third quarter. Nelson Santana gave Harrisburg their first lead of the game 35 seconds later. Daniel Villela put the Heat up by two with 6:02 remaining on another fast break. Segura brought Utica back within one when he cut to the middle a ripped a shot past the keeper off a set piece.

Schindler tied the game at five 3:11 into the fourth quarter when he ran the ball down the left side and poked a shot off the far post and in. Bourdeau put Utica back on top with 8:52 to play in the fourth quarter, taking a pass from Ricardo Diegues on a give-and-go play. Segura netted his third of the game after Momo stripped a defender and found him in front for a tap-in. 

Utica City is back in action Friday, January 17 on the road against the St. Louis Ambush. Kickoff at The Family Arena is at 8:35 p.m. The game can be viewed on MASL.tv.

Scoring Summary

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