Utica, NY (Sept. 21, 2012) – The Utica College men's soccer team is set to host St. John Fisher College in an Empire 8 Conference matchup on Saturday at 4 p.m. The contest will be a part of the program's effort to “Kick Cancer” and raise money for cancer research.
Kick Cancer: Fans can buy special edition pink t-shirts at the game … Youth shirts are $10 each or two for $15, adult shirts are $15 or two for $25 … The men's and women's teams will also be auctioning off their limited edition jerseys after their games … All the proceeds raised from the event will be donated to cancer research.
Follow the Pioneers all Year Long: Don't forget to Like the Pioneers on Facebook and follow UC on Twitter all season long … You can catch every home contest on the turf streaming live on Empire8.tv and you can also view live stats right here at www.ucpioneers.com.
Home Sweet Home: The Pioneers are coming off a tough two game stretch on the road at nationally-ranked No. 19 Nazareth and regionally-ranked No. 4 Hobart College … UC is currently 3-0 at the friendly confines of Charles A. Gaetano Stadium … The Pioneers have outscored their three opponents 16-2 at home this year.
Hangin' Tough: Two of the Pioneers' three losses have come by one goal this year … In their other loss against Naz, 3-1, the Pioneers' held the nationally-ranked Golden Flyers scoreless for over 66 minutes.
Chasing Records: Junior Jonathan Peterson ranks second on the College's all-time scoring list with 46 career points … Evan Dufault '07 is the program's all-time leading scorer with 74 career points (26 goals, 22 assists) … Peterson recently jumped 2011 graduate Jon Wood who finished his career with 42 points … Junior
Kevin McAllister (Boxford, MA/Masconomet Regional) ranks fourth on the College's all-time scoring list with 38 points (15 goals, eight assists).
Caruso Sets the Standard: Junior goalie
Anthony Caruso (Easton, CT/Joel Barlow) holds school-records for most career wins (25) and shut outs (12) and he currently ranks fourth all-time with 141 career saves … He needs 64 saves to move into third place on the College's all-time list … He has allowed just nine goals through seven games this year.
Banner Year for Garcia: Senior
Daniel Garcia (Fairport, NY/Fairport) has tallied a career-best three goals through seven games this year … He netted the Pioneers' lone goal in a 3-1 loss to Naz and he also added one goal in each game of the Utica College Invitational … Garcia has two-game-winning goals this year and he is a perfect 2-for-2 on penalty kick opportunities.
The Stats: The Pioneers (4-3, 0-1 Empire 8) have outscored their opponents 21-9 through seven games … UC has out shot its opponents 51-33 and they have scored 56 points (goals & assists combined) compared to 23.
McAllister Leads the Way: Junior
Kevin McAllister (Boxford, MA/Masconomet Regional) is tied for second in the Empire 8 with six goals this year … He ranks third in the E8 and leads UC with 13 points … He also leads UC with 17 shots.
Against the Cardinals: The Pioneers are 3-7-1 against St. John Fisher in their last nine meetings … The two evenly matched squads have split the series 2-2 in the last four years … The last time UC beat Fisher was in 2010, 3-0.
Scouting Fisher: Fisher (4-2-1, 0-0-1 Empire 8) is a perfect 2-0 on the road this year … The Cardinals tied Ithaca 1-1 in their lone conference contest of the year … They are coming off a convincing 5-1 win over D'Youville … Keep an eye out for Joel Castellini who leads the team with eight points (three goals, two assists) this year.
Next Time Out: The Pioneers will hit the road again for another tough two game stretch beginning with a trip to Plattsburgh on Tuesday night … One week from Saturday the Pioneers' travel to Head Coach Eric Watsons' alma mater, Williams College, to take on the nationally-ranked No. 25 Ephs for the first time in program-history.
