Utica, NY ( 10/16/12)- The Utica College field hockey team gets set to venture out on a three game road trip beginning with Empire 8 Conference foe, Ithaca Bombers on Wednesday.  The game is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. at Higgins Stadium.

Last Time Out: Utica is coming off a 2-0 week last week… On Wednesday the Pioneers downed #11 Skidmore College… Louise Steele-Norton (Avondale, PA/Millbrook School) scored both goals while Kells Casey (Sandwich, MA/Kimball Union Academy) made 16 saves… UC followed that up with a 1-0 conference win over St. John Fisher College on Saturday… Jessica Franklin (Delevan, NY/Pioneer) netted the lone goal of the contest.

Current Position: The Pioneers are 9-4 overall and are tied with Ithaca for fifth place in the conference standings with a 2-3 E8 record… They have outscored opponents 43 to 23 on the season and are averaging 3.31 goals per game while allowing just 1.77 goals against.

Steele–Norton on Fire: Sophomore forward Louise Steele-Norton (Avondale, PA/Millbrook School) leads her team with 38 points… She has tallied an impressive 19 goals on the season, and ranks ninth in the nation with 1.46 goals per game...  She recently set the UC single-season goal-scoring record and needs just three points to move into a tie for first on the College's single-season points scoring list.

Sophomore Support: Sophomores Hannah Mackey (Locke, NY/Moravia Central), Alaina Stojkovski (Liverpool, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse) and Angela Charles (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) have made valuable contributions over the season... Mackey has put up nine goals of her own and her 27 points rank second in the conference behind Steele-Norton... Stojkovski, a second year midfielder, has scored four goals and is second in the E8 with 11 assists this season… Meanwhile, Charles has impressively scored four goals on only eight shots.

Goalie Goodies: Freshman Kells Casey (Sandwich, MA/Kimball Union Academy), who was just named E8 Defensive Player of the Week, had a career-high 16 saves against Skidmore on Wednesday and picked up her first career shutout in the Pioneers' 1-0 win over St. John Fisher on Saturday… Casey leads the Empire 8 with a .818 save percentage and is second in goals-against average (1.52).

The Bombers Blowing Up: The Bombers (6-8 overall) have dropped three straight since their 4-0 shut-out over Brockport at home on Oct. 2… They are coming off a 5-1 loss to Oneonta on Saturday… Ithaca is led by senior Julia Conroy who has eleven goals on the season.

Against Ithaca: While the Pioneers are 1-4 against the Bombers over the past five seasons, their lone win came last year when UC crushed Ithaca 5-1 at home… Mackey, Stojkovski and Steele-Norton all scored in last year's game, with Mackey picking up her first career hat trick. 

Looking Ahead: Utica remains on the road Saturday as it takes on new Empire 8 opponent, Houghton College… Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m.


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