Utica, NY (3-29-12) – The Utica College men's lacrosse team heads to SUNY Potsdam Saturday for a non-conference match against the Bears.

Face-Off: The game will be held on Potsdam campus at Turf Field and is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.

The Pioneers: UC is currently 5-3 overall this season and 0-1 in the Empire 8 Conference … Utica dropped its conference opener Wednesday at home to Nazareth, 19-7 … At this time last season, the Pioneers were 2-6 and had been outscored 101-55 in those contests … Presently, UC has a 97-86 advantage on goals against the opposition.

Junior's Attack: Three junior's, Ben Winkler (Rodman, NY/IHC), Trent Thomas (Akwesasne, ONT/Massena) and Justin Edelstein (Hartsdale, NY/Harvey School), make up the starting attack line for Utica and have combined for 64 of UC's 166 total points … The trio heads the statistics report in goals, points, shots and shots on goal … Winkler leads the squad in goals (27), points (33), shots (73), and SOG (47) … Thomas and Edelstein are second and third behind Winkler with Thomas tallying 24 points on 11 scores and 13 dishes and Edlstein netting an impressive 16 goals and 17 points ... Edelstein has posted three game-winners along with seven man-up goals.

Call Schoen, Barney and Baron for Midfield Work:  Sophomore Joe Schoen (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) is currently fourth in points (16) with six goals and 10 assists in six games … Senior Oliver Barney (Vestal, NY/Vestal) is fifth with 15 points on nine goals and six assists while leading the squad in face-offs, winning 52-of-91 … Sophomore Scott Baron (Flemington, NJ/Cushing Academy) is sixth in scoring with 11 points on four scores and seven assists.

UC Long-sticks:  Senior Mick Krajacic (Clay, NY/Cicero North Syracuse) and sophomore Dan Duffy (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) head the defensive unit for Utica … Krajacic, a preseason All-American selection, has scooped up a team-high 40 groundballs and caused 30 turnovers … His 5.29 ground balls per game are good enough for third in the conference … Duffy is third in caused turnovers (10) and fourth in groundballs (21).

The Duo in Net: Senior's Joe Davis (Vestal, NY/Vestal) and Wilson Mukrdechian (Watertown, NY/Watertown) are currently sharing time between the pipes … Davis, in 252:15, is 3-3 with a .543 save percentage and a goal average allowed of 11.42 per game … Mukrdechian is 2-0 on the season in 213:36 while recording a save percentage of .456% and goals average allowed of 10.39.

Pioneers vs. Potsdam: The teams squared off for the first time last season on Mar. 14
Meet the Bears: SUNY Potsdam is currently 3-2 on the season … The Bears recently had their three-game winning streak snapped Tuesday in a 10-6 loss to St. Lawrence at home … Potsdam beat Hartwick (13-10), Morrisville (13-4) and SUNY Maritime (18-7) … Last season, the Bears finished 8-9 overall including a 4-2 mark in the SUNYAC … Potsdam lost three regular season games by a one goal margin and concluded its season with a 16-3 loss to Cortland in the second round of the conference tournament.

Back in Action: Following Saturday's game, the Pioneers return to action Wednesday as they host E8 rival Hartwick College in the first of a five game conference stretch … Face-off is set for 4 p.m. at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium.