Utica, NY (10/19/12)- The Utica College field hockey team looks to continue its strong play Saturday as it heads to Houghton College for an Empire 8 match up against the Highlanders.

Last Time Out: The Pioneers are coming off a 3-0 win over Ithaca on Wednesday… Sophomores Louise Steele-Norton (Avondale, PA/Millbrook School), Hannah Mackey (Locke, NY/Moravia Central), and Nikki Kieffer (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) all netted goals for UC.

Where We Sit: Utica is 10-4 overall and 3-3 in the Empire 8 Conference… They are currently fifth in the conference standings, one game behind St. John Fisher College… The Pioneers have outscored opponents 46-23 on the season and have averaged 3.29 goals per game, while allowing just 1.64 goals per game.

Game Coverage: Houghton will be providing live video coverage of the match available at www.empire8.tv.

Steele-Norton Stealing the Show: Sophomore Louise Steele-Norton (Avondale, PA/Millbrook School) leads the Empire 8 in goals (20) and points (41)… She also ranks ninth in the nation with 1.46 goals per game… She recently set the Utica College single-season goal-scoring record and is currently tied for first on the College's single-season point scoring list.

Super Sophomores: The sophomore class has accounted for 41 of the Pioneers' 46 goals… Hannah Mackey (Locke, NY/Moravia Central) is second on the team with ten goals and nine assists… Her 29 points rank second in the conference behind Steele-Norton… She is also tied with Steele-Norton for first in the E8 with four game-winning goals…  Classmate Alaina Stojkovski (Liverpool, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse) has four goals and is second in the conference with 11 assists.

Casey Honored: Freshman Kells Casey (Sandwich, MA/Kimball Union Academy) was recently named both the Empire 8 Conference and ECAC Mid-Atlantic Defensive Player of the Week… Last week, Casey had a career–high 16 saves as the Pioneers defeated #11 Skidmore College 2-1 on Wednesday… She followed that up with a three-save performance in Utica's 1-0 win over St. John Fisher last Saturday… This past Wednesday, Casey collected her second straight shutout as UC downed Ithaca College 3-0… She is currently 5-1 on the season and leads the E8 with just eight goals against and a 8.37 save percentage… She also ranks second in the conference with a 1.28 save percentage.

Scouting Houghton: The Highlanders are 7-5 overall and 2-4 in the Empire 8 Conference… They are coming off a 5-1 win over Morrisville on Thursday… They are led by seniors Ashley Engle and Hillery Duman… Engle has 12 goals and seven assists on the year while Duman has a 1.96 goals against average…. This will be the first-ever meeting between the two teams. 

Looking Ahead: The Pioneers wrap up their three-game road trip Wednesday as they travel to Oneonta for a match up against the Red Dragons… The non-conference contest is scheduled for 4 p.m.



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