UTICA, NY – The Utica College football team hits the road to take on Hartwick College in its regular season finale Saturday at Wright Stadium ... Game time is set for 1 p.m.
 
BOWL BID?: The Pioneers have tied the school-record for wins in a single season with six and a win on Saturday at Hartwick would cement the finest season in the 14 year history of the UC football program … A win would also secure the Pioneers spot on the list of ECAC Bowl bid prospects … The Pioneers opened the season with four straight wins, before losing three straight Empire 8 games, and they are now back on track with two straight W's.
 
BUILDING A WINNING TRADITION: UC has now won five or more games in four out of the last five years … UC is now 4-3 in one of the toughest conference's on the east coast and a win on Saturday would break the program-record for conference victories in a single season … UC is currently in a three-way tie for third place in the Empire 8.

ALL-TIME VS. HARTWICK: These two teams have met every year since 2002 … Hartwick holds the all-time series lead with an 8-4 advantage… It is usually a very competitive game between these two rivals, with 7-of-12 meetings being decided by 10 points or less … Four of the meetings have been decided by three points or less.

HISTORY LESSON: On November 10, 2007, Utica and Hartwick set an NCAA Division III record by combining for 142 points in a single game … Utica lost the four overtime decision by the score of 72-70 at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium. 
 
LAST TIME UC PLAYED HARTWICK: (November 16, 2013) - The Utica College football team fell into an early 21-0 hole and could not quite finish the comeback as the Pioneers lost to visiting Hartwick College, 21-10, in their regular season finale last year at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium … The Pioneers amassed 331 yards of total offense on the afternoon (165 yards rushing, 166 yards passing), but they had trouble converting on third down, going 6-for-17 on the day … Wide receiver Gregory Palmer (Richland, NY/APW) caught a career-high nine passes for 86 yards … Chris Williams (Fairfax Station, VA/Lake Braddock) caught two balls on the day, including the touchdown late in the contest … Connor Butkiewicz (Southington, CT/Southington) completed 16-of-32 passes for 134 yards and one touchdown for UC.
 
LAST WEEK AGAINST ALFRED: The Utica College football team picked up a huge win on senior day as the Pioneers' downed Empire 8 foe, Alfred University 35-14 at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium last Saturday …  UC scored 21 unanswered points to secure the victory … UC defeated Alfred for just the second time in program-history … Senior Anthony Acevedo (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) recorded two touchdown catches and added one punt return TD to lead the Pioneers …  Running backs Ryan Burnett (Mount Vernon, NY/Arch Bishop Stepinac) and J'Von Evans (Utica, NY/Proctor) added the other two scores for Utica.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA: If you can't make it out to the game make sure to follow live updates on the Pioneers official Twitter feed: @UCPioneers… If you are at the game on Twitter, or talking about the game on Twitter, make sure to use #UCMoose… You can also "Like" the Pioneers on Facebook at www.facebook.com/UCpioneers ... Fans can also follow the Pioneers on Instagram: UCPioneers.
 
FOLLOW THE GAME LIVE: Hartwick College will provide live video and live stats for Saturday's regular season finale … Fans can follow live video at: www.hartwickhawks.com/watch ... Fans can follow live stats at: http://livestats.hartwick.edu/FootBall/MFB1415/xlive.htm
 
IN THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT: As a team, the Pioneers rank 22^nd nationally and lead the Empire 8 with 156.8 passing yards allowed per game … The Pioneers' offensive line also ranks fifth nationally and first in the E8 allowing an average of just 0.67 sacks per game. 
 
PRESSURING THE QB: Junior defensive end Nick Woodman (Utica, NY/Proctor) ranks 14^th nationally and leads the Empire 8 with an average of 1.06 sacks per game for Utica … He also ranks fourth on the team with 48 total tackles and he has three pass break ups, three fumble recoveries and one forced fumble. 
 
SPECIAL TEAMS: Senior punter Dakota Peel (Alden, NY/Alden) ranks eighth nationally with an average of 41.8 yards per punt this season … He has pinned opponents inside their own 20 yard line 15 times and he also have five punts of 50 yards or better. 
 
RETURN GAME: The Pioneers have one of the most explosive kick return games in the country … Jerred Beniquez (Port Ewen, NY/Kingston) and J'Von Evans (Utica, NY/Proctor) both rank in the top 50 nationally in combined kick return yards … Evans' ranks third nationally with an average of 20.4 yards per punt return. 
 
LEADING TACKLER: Sophomore linebacker Juwan Wilson (South Ozone Park, NY/Holy Cross) ranks third in the Empire 8 with an average of 10.1 tackles per game this season … He needs nine tackles to become the sixth player in program-history to record 100 tackles in a single-season.
 
BALDASSARE BREAKING RECORDS: Senior running back Jesse Baldassare (Mt. Sinai, NY/Mt. Sinai) moved into second place on the College's all-time rushing list last week and he now has 1,577 career rushing yards … He is also the College's all-time leader with 343 career carries and he is tied for third with 15 career rushing touchdowns … He needs 195 rushing yards to become the College's all-time rushing leader.
 
BUTKIEWICZ CEMENTING HIS PLACE: Senior quarterback Connor Butkiewicz (Southington, CT/Southington) needs 14 completions to move into second on the College's all-time completions list … He also become the third player in program-history to throw for over 4,000 career yards in the Pioneers' win over Alfred last week … He has completed 114-of-195 passes this season for 1,428 and seven touchdowns … He has thrown just one interception. 
 
ACEVEDO CONTINUES TO CLIMB: Senior wide receiver Anthony Acevedo (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) is the College's all-time leader with 3,221 career receiving yards, 220 career receptions and he ranks second all-time with 25 total touchdowns scored … His average of 6.47 catches per games is a school-record … Acevedo set a new school-record for all-purpose yards per in a career last week – he surpassed Cody Elliot '09 and now has 3,887 career all-purpose yards.
 
HISTORY IN THE MAKING: Thomas Woodburn (West Islip, NY/West Islip) is the College's all-time leader with 17 career field goals made … Peel ranks second all-time at UC, behind former Pioneer and current special teams coach Ben Atwood, with 5,215 career punt yards … Beniquez needs 55 kick return yards to become the College's career leader – he currently has 1,142 kick return yards … Rob Alexander (Dobbs Ferry, NY/Dobbs Ferry) ranks tenth all-time at UC with 90 career solo tackles … Woodman is now tied for second all-time at UC with 14.5 career sacks.

SINGLE SEASON RECORD BOOK: Baldassare and Evans ranks ninth and tenth on the College's single season rushing yards list with 496 and 471 yards rushing, respectively … Baldassare's six rushing touchdowns this year rank eighth on the College's single season list … Acevedo's 737 yards receiving rank fifth on the College's single season list … Evans' average of 115.2 all-purpose yards per game ranks seventh on the College's all-time list … His eight touchdowns this season (seven rush, one return) are tied for sixth on the program's single-season list … Evans' is the College's career and single-season leader with 367 punt return yards … Peel needs 163 yards punting to become the fourth player in program-history to punt for over 2,000 yards in a single season … Peel's average of 41.75 yards per punt is a new single season record at UC … Beniquez needs 89 kick return yards to break the program's single-season record … Woodman's ten sacks this season are a new school-record … He is the first player in program-history to register double-digit sacks in a single season … As a team the Pioneers have rushed for 1,221 yards this season and they need 92 more yards rushing to move into second place on the College's single-season list … The Pioneers currently have 20 rushing touchdowns and need two more to set a new single-season record … As a team, the Pioneers are averaging 13.0 yards per completion, which is a new school-record … The Pioneer defense has set a new school-record with 33 pass break-ups this season.