UTICA CITY CRUISES PAST MISSISSAUGA

Utica, N.Y. – Utica City scored early and often en route to a 13-5 victory over the Mississauga MetroStars Sunday afternoon at the Adirondack Bank Center. Bo Jelovac scored four goals, Joey Tavernese and Logan Roberts scored twice, while Darren Toby, Stephen DeRoux, Lucio Gonzaga, Mauricio Salles, and Nate Bourdeau all chipped in with a goal each. Slavisa Ubiparipovic collected three assists and Andrew Coughlin stopped four of the nine shots he faced in the victory.

Jelovac scored twice in the first two minutes to give Utica an early 2-0 lead. Damien Graham cut the lead to 2-1 with 4:56 to play in the first. Jelovac completed the hat trick two minutes later to restore the two-goal lead.

Roberts pushed the lead to 4-1 two minutes into the second quarter, picking off a pass from Mississauga’s goalkeeper and tucking into an empty net. Josip Keran cut the deficit in half with a long strike that found its way past Coughlin. Graham made it 4-3 with a power play goal, but Toby would respond with a header 20 seconds later to reestablish their two-goal lead. Jelovac added his fourth of the game just a minute later to put City up 6-3 heading into halftime.

Luis Rocha kept the MetroStars in it with a goal 3:30 into the third quarter. DeRoux responded a minute later with a blast from the left side to put Utica back up by three. He celebrated with a back-flip off the wall of the Biergarten in front of sell-out crowd. Tavernese extended the lead to 8-4 at the 11:55 mark of the third quarter.

The MetroStars got back within three with a goal from Darren Chambers with 11:03 to go in the fourth quarter. Bourdeau made no mistake with a one-on-one opportunity with the Mississauga goalkeeper to bring the score to 9-5 five minutes into the final quarter. Salles added a power play goal 1:39 later to bring Utica to double digits for the second straight game. Tavernese, Roberts, and Gonzaga added empty net goals late in the fourth to help Utica pull away and secure the win.

Utica City is back in action on February 22 in a rematch against the MetroStars. Kickoff at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre is at 7:35 p.m.  The game can be viewed on MASL.tv.

Scoring Summary