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Utica, NY (3/31/14) – The Utica College men's lacrosse team (4-4, 1-0 E8) returns home after two games on the road last week to face Empire 8 Conference competitor Nazareth College at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium at 4 p.m.

Follow the Game Live: Live streaming video and audio will be available through www.empire8.tv (Audio courtesy of WPNR) … Live stats will also be available: CLICK HERE ... Fans can also follow the Pioneers on Twitter for live updates: @UCPioneers.

Last Time Out: UC's traveling woes continued on Friday as the Pioneers were defeated by host Oswego State on the grass at Laker field … Junior Christian Reiller (Salamanca, NY/Genesee CC) and sophomore Corey Thompson (Akwesasne/Salmon River) each added three goals, but the Pioneers could not recover after falling behind 9-1 after the first quarter … It was just the second time this season the Pioneers were outshot (Hamilton - 3/11/14).

Empire 8 Stats: The Pioneers are tied for first in the Empire 8 Conference in total caused turnovers (97) and first in caused turnovers per game (12.13) … UC does not give away many possessions as they rank third in turnovers per game (16.50), just 1.21 turnovers behind conference leader St. John Fisher … Reiller is 11^th in assists per game (1.13) and 12^th in goals per game (2.88) … Junior Zack Stevenson (Elbridge, NY/Jordan-Elbridge) is fourth in the conference in ground balls per game (5.63).

No Place Like Home: Utica is 4-0 at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium this year and are 0-4 on the road … UC is outscoring opponents 54-26 in home games and the Pioneers have an advantage in just about every statistical category … The Pioneers have scored at least 10 goals in all four home victories and have not taken less than 40 shots in any of those games.

Thompson Heating Up: Sophomore midfielder Corey Thompson (Akwesasne/Salmon River) has six goals in his last four games for the Pioneers … His .846 shots on goal percentage is translating into scores for UC as he is now fourth on the team in goals (10) and has doubled his scoring output from last season … His two game-winning goals are first on the team and has proven to be unselfish ranking only seventh on the team in shots.

Athlete of the Week: Christian Reiller (Salamanca, NY/Genesee CC) was named the College's Male Athlete of the Week Monday for his efforts over the weekend … He recorded five points last week to propel him ahead of Trent Jacobs (Akwesasne/Brewster Academy) as the team's scoring leader … He tallied an assist in Friday's game against SUNY Potsdam and led the way for UC with a team-high four points (three goals, one assist) Saturday against Oswego State.

Ground Ball Battle: There has been a correlation in ground balls with wins and losses this year … In all four of UC's losses this season, they did not win the ground ball battle, where in all of the team's home victories, they did … Zack Stevenson (Elbridge, NY/Jordan-Elbridge) (45), Tom Byrne (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) (33), and Sean Flanagan (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) (20) are leading the team in the ground ball category, where UC ranks fifth in the conference.

Scouting Nazareth: The Golden Flyers (4-5, 2-0 E8) are coming off a 17-11 victory at Elmira last weekend … Nazareth is led by two players, Luke Wooters (21g, 23a) and Troy Haefele (20g,14a), who have 42% of the team's points … Last season, the Golden Flyers beat the Pioneers twice, including a 15-7 win in the Empire 8 Conference playoffs … UC is 1-13 against Nazareth all-time with the only win coming in 2008.

Looking Ahead: Utica will be on the road this Saturday, looking to get the team's first road victory against Misericordia University in Dallas, PA … Game time is set for 1 p.m.