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HOME SWEET HOME: Utica College is set to host Union College for its home-opener on the brand new turf at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium Saturday night at 7 p.m. …. The Pioneers have won two consecutive home-openers and four of their last six home-openers have resulted in a victory … Last season the Pioneers defeated visiting RPI 42-21 in their home-opener.

FIRST TIME MEETING IN REGULAR SEASON: Although both of these program's have met in preseason exhibition contests, the two program's have yet to ever square off in a regular season contest.

BROADCAST INFO: Today's game - and all Utica College games - will be broadcast on the radio at WTLB 1310 AM ... All Pioneer home games will be broadcast on the radio locally at WPNR 90.7 FM ... All Pioneer home games can be viewed live online at www.empire8.tv … Links for live stats and live audio for today's contest are available at www.ucpioneers.com.

NIGHT GAMES ARE BECOMING POPULAR IN UTICA: Tonight's contest marks just the second time in school-history that the Pioneers have hosted a night game ... The last time Utica hosted a night game, in 2010, a school-record 3,567 fans came out to see the Pioneers take on St. John Fisher College.

PIONEERS LAST WEEK: Utica is coming off an impressive 48-35 victory over non-conference foe St. Lawrence University in its 2011 regular season opener last Saturday ... UC is now 2-2 all-time against the Saints … Junior quarterback Andrew Benkwitt (Mamaroneck, NY/Mamaroneck) completed 25-of-32 passes for 233 yards to go along with three touchdowns, while the Pioneers' ground game amassed an impressive 207 rushing yards as Utica won its third straight season-opener last weekend ... The Pioneers offense racked up 469 yards of total offense against St. Lawrence ... They played particularly well in the first 30 minutes as the offensive unit totaled 34 first half points, including five consecutive touchdown drives to close out the first half of play ... The Pioneer defense held the Saints to just 87 yards of total offense in the first half and four of the Saints five first half drives resulted in punts ... Juniors Jake Scott (Rochester, NY/Irondequoit) and Matt Dunn (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place) each recorded two touchdowns in the Pioneers' season-opening victory.

SCOUTING UNION (Courtesy of Union Sports Info.): Union comes off a 25-22 loss at Salve Regina, that featured a last second field goal by the Seahawks ... Freshman Mark Moore kicked a 49 yard field goal as time expired to give Salve Regina a 25-22 win over Union College in the season opener for both teams Saturday in Middletown, RI ... Drew Connolly completed 15- of-29 passes for 247 yards and a TD through the air, while also rushing for 45 yards and a TD ... Chase Richey led all players with five receptions for a career-best 104 yards and a touchdown ... Justin Gallo caught three passes for 96 yards, and freshman Darnel Thomas had 45 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries in his first game for Union.

TURF IS BARELY TOUCHED: Tonight marks the first time since its installation this summer that the Pioneers will be playing on a brand new artificial turf surface … Utica is one of the first schools in the country to install one of the latest offerings to hit the market - FieldTurf Revolution … Revolution provides many advantages that no other product can deliver … Utica's new turf features the College's athletic logo (moose) in the center of the turf and the team's nickname, Pioneers, is printed in each end zone.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Utica heads to Frostburg State next Saturday as the Pioneers open up Empire 8 play at 1 p.m. in Frostburg, MD ... Frostburg (1-0) racked up nearly 500 yards of total offense in a 34-21 victory over Geneva in the season opener for both schools Saturday evening … Frostburg and Salisbury are new additions to the Empire 8 this season.

IN THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT: The Pioneers currently rank 11th in the nation and lead the Empire 8 Conference with an average of 48 points per contest … Sophomore quarterback Andrew Benkwitt (Mamaroneck, NY/Mamaroneck) ranks 21st in the country and leads the conference with a passing efficiency rating of 170.22.
HONORED: Junior quarterback Andrew Benkwitt (Mamaroneck, NY/Mamaroneck) was named the College's Male Athlete of the Week after completing 25-of-32 passes for 233 yards and three touchdowns last week.

PIONEERS TO WATCH FOR: Utica's Jon White (Endicott, NY/Union-Endicott) and Eric Rindo (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) paced the Pioneer defense with seven tackles a piece as seven different defenders tallied at least three tackles for UC last week … Junior wide receiver Jamie Murphy (Canadaigua, NY/Marcus Whitman) caught a career and team-high six passes for 41 yards, while junior Matt Dunn (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place) finished the day with five catches for 73 yards and two touchdowns.

THREE HEADED MONSTER: The Pioneers ground game features three running backs, who will likely all see a considerable amount of touches … Utica College racked up 207 yards rushing last week … Junior Jake Scott (Rochester, NY/Irondequoit) led the Pioneers with 80 yards and two touchdowns on the ground … Junior transfer (Mount Union) Jake Larson (Bemus Point, NY/Maple Grove) carried the ball 16 times for 60 yards and sophomore Jesse Baldassare (Mt. Sinai, NY/Mt. Sinai) finished the day with 40 rushing yards on 11 carries.

SPECIAL TEAMS IS KEY: Junior kicker/punter Seth Mitchell (Fonda, NY/Fonda-Fultonville) knocked down 6-of-7 extra points and averaged 40.7 yards per punt in his first collegiate start for the Utica College football team … He also put 2-of-3 punts inside the 20 yard line … Sophomore Jesse Baldassare (Mt. Sinai, NY/Mt. Sinai) stunned the Saints last week after he took a kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown, marking the third longest kick return in school-history.

NON-LEAGUE RECENTLY: Dating back to 2005 the Pioneers are 17-9 against non-conference opponents … They are currently riding the highs of an eight game non-conference winning streak.

TALE OF THE TAPE: Utica is averaging 26 more points per game than Union so far this season … The Pioneers compiled eight more first downs than Union last week … UC rushed for 207 yards last week compared to the Dutchmen's 121 yards on the ground … UC threw for 262 passing yards, while Union passed for 247 ... UC compiled 101 more yards of total offense … Utica returned six kicks for a total of 147 yards last week compared to Union's five returns for 92 yards.

GAETANO IS THE PLACE TO BE: Last season the Pioneers ranked in the top 50 out of 233 teams with an average of 2,599 fans per home contest.

SIX STRAIGHT: At one point during the contest last week at St. Lawrence the Pioneers scored a touchdown on six consecutive offensive drives including the true back breaker in the final drive of the first half … In a span of 5:21 the Pioneers marched 91 yards on 16 plays, capped by Matt Dunn (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place)'s eight yard touchdown catch, to give UC a 34-8 lead with 38 seconds to go before the half.

PIONEERS ARE HOT IN THE FIRST HALF: Utica dominated the first half of play to silence the home crowd of 1,421 fans after holding St. Lawrence to just 87 yards of total offense in the first half last week ... Five UC touchdowns, two on the ground and three in the air, led to 335 total yards of offense in the first half as the Pioneers mustered a commanding 26 point lead before the intermission.