Utica, NY (September 17, 2014) – The Utica College football team (2-0) is set to open up its Empire 8 Conference schedule against the Frostburg State University Bobcats Saturday in the Indiun Corporation Home Opener at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m.
BROADCAST INFO:  All Utica College football games will be broadcast on the radio locally at WTLB 99.1 FM/1310 AM (ESPN Radio) by play-by-play man Dave Peroni and color analyst Fred Miller… Live streaming audio can also be accessed on WTLB's website,Â
www.espnur.com... Utica College home games are also broadcasted over the air and online by Utica College's student radio station, WPNR 90.7 FM… Make sure to catch live vidoe at UC's all new Pioneer All-Access page:
www.ucpioneers.com/watch ... Live statistics will also be provided by the UC stats team at:Â
http://sidearmstats.com/utica/football/ and media members can follow live media stats at:Â
http://sidearmstats.com/utica/football/media/.Â
DOWNLOAD THE APP:Â All UC football radio broadcasts on WTLB 99.1 FM can be heard on the My Hometown Sports App. available in the Google Play store and on Apple ITunes... It's a free application so download today!
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 and on Twitter, or talking about the game on Twitter, make sure to use #LetsGoUC… You can also "Like" the Pioneers on Facebook at www.facebook.com/UCpioneers ... Fans can also follow the Pioneers on Instagram: UCPioneers.Â
A LONG WAY FROM HOME: The Pioneers and Bobcats alternate hosting their annual Empire 8 Conference matchup, and this year Utica plays host… The distance between Utica College and Frostburg State University is 400 miles… It takes about seven hours to drive from one campus to another… Frostburg's campus is about two hours southeast from Pittsburgh, Pa. and three hours northwest from Washington.
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WIN IN WEEK 3: The Pioneers have started every season 2-0 dating back to 2009… However, Utica has had trouble winning its week 3 matchup… Since 2001, UC is 2-8 in week 3 games… The two week 3 victories were in 2004 and 2010… In 2010, the Pioneers started the season 4-0.
COMEBACK KIDS: The Pioneers trailed the Union College Dutchmen 16-0 at halftime and responded with 23 unanswered points in the final two quarters to earn the victory last Saturday… Senior running back
Jesse Baldassare (Mt. Sinai, NY/Mt. Sinai) finished with 85 yards on 28 carries and a 17-yard reception… Senior wide receiver
Anthony Acevedo (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) caught four passes for 96 yards, including a 43-yard reception… Sophomore quarterback
Will Kassar (Lattingtown, NY/Glen Cove) went 9-for-24 passing with two interceptions and a fumble, but displayed his dual-threat ability with 50 yards and a touchdown on the ground… Junior
Jonathan Cappotelli (Caledonia, NY/Caledonia) and sophomore
Juwan Wilson (South Ozone Park, NY/Holy Cross) combined for 31 tackles – 17 and 14, respectively – to lead the Pioneers… Sophomore cornerback
Irvens Eristil (Monroe, NY/Monroe Woodbury) recorded a fumble recovery for a touchdown and an interception late in the game to seal the victory for UC.
ALL-TIME SERIES: Utica is 2-1 all-time against Frostburg State… The Pioneers lost the first matchup 44-24 in Frostburg's inaugural season as an Empire 8 member in 2011… Since then, UC dominated Frostburg on Homecoming Weekend in 2012 in a 41-0 shutout victory… The Pioneers won again in 2013 in Maryland 44-27.
BROKEN RECORDS EVERYWHERE:Â The last time UC met Frostburg, senior running back
Jake Larson (Bemus Point, NY/Maple Grove) set a new school-record with five touchdowns as the Pioneers defeated the Bobcats 44-27 on the road… Utica outscored Frostburg 19-0 in the fourth quarter after trailing 27-25… The win snapped a two-game slide for UC… Larson's five touchdowns was one of nine records broken in the game, as he also became the school's all-time leader with 20 career rushing touchdowns… Quarterback
Connor Butkiewicz (Southington, CT/Southington) set a single-game school-record with 431 passing yards, completing 31-of-36 passes… Junior receiver
Anthony Acevedo (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford)'s 252 yards set a single-game record… UC's defense tied a school-record with three fumble recoveries... UC set new team records with an 83.8 percent completion rate and 86 all-purpose attempts… Larson and Acevedo become the fifth and sixth players in UC history to join the 100-plus career points scored club.
IN THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT: As a team the Pioneers rank 14th nationally in scoring defense (8.0 ppg), 15th nationally in passing yards allowed (101.0) and second nationally in passing yards per completion (21.30) ... Utica is ranked third nationally in both net punting average (42.86 yards/attempt) and punt return average (34 yards/attempt)… Freshman J'Von Evans leads the nation in combined kick returns (296 yards) and he is ranked sixth nationally with an average of 34 yards per punt return… Evans is also ranked 42nd nationally with 171 all-purpose yards per game… Sophomore
Jerred Beniquez (Port Ewen, NY/Kingston) (Port Ewen, NY/Kingston) ranks 21st nationally with an average of 32.3 yards per kickoff return and he is also 87th nationally in all-purpose yards per game (144.5).
HISTORY IN THE MAKING:Â Senior running backÂ
Jesse Baldassare (Mt. Sinai, NY/Mt. Sinai) is one of four backs in program-history to rush for over 1,000 yards in a career… He tied Paul Hart '05 for fourth on the College's all-time list with 10 rushing touchdowns… Baldassare recently moved into sole possession of fourth place on the College's all-time rushing yards list with 1,185… He is one of five players in program-history to record 2,000+ all-purpose yards and he just passed Mike Capra '05 for fourth on the all-time list after gaining 103 all-purpose yards against Union… Senior receiverÂ
Anthony Acevedo (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) is the school-record holder with 2,618 yards receiving and he looks to extend his all-time lead over Jeremy Meier '12, who wrapped up his career with 2,477 yards receiving … Acevedo needs six catches to break Meier's all-time record for receptions in a career; he currently has 182 … Acevedo has 17 career touchdown catches and needs 13 this season to tie Meier's record of 30 … Acevedo needs 558 all-purpose yards to surpass Cody Elliot '09 for the school's career record; he has 3,116 career all-purpose yards … Sophomore
Jerred Beniquez (Port Ewen, NY/Kingston) totaled 712 return yards in two seasons and surpassed teammateÂ
Jesse Baldassare (Mt. Sinai, NY/Mt. Sinai) for third on the all-time list … Senior safetyÂ
James Lenahan (Mahopac, NY/Mahopac) ranks second on the College's all-time list with 11 career interceptions and he needs six more this season to tie the school-record of 17 set by Jon Klosner '06 … It took J'Von Evans just one game to become the program's career leader in punt return yards (226); he currently has 272 after two games.
WOODBURN HITS 100: Junior kickerÂ
Thomas Woodburn (West Islip, NY/West Islip) became just the sixth player in program-history to score 100 or more points in a career… Woodburn currently ranks second all-time with 55 extra points and needs seven more this season to break Casey McNulty's '09 school-record of 61… Woodburn has made 15 field goals in his career and needs two to set the College's all-time record.
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Sophomore cornerback
Irvens Eristil (Monroe, NY/Monroe Woodbury) was named the Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Week and the Utica College Male Athlete of the Week after his clutch performance helped Utica remain undefeated against Union College on Saturday… Eristil had three tackles, a fumble recovery returned for the game-winning touchdown and an interception late in the game to end Union's hopes for a comeback.Â
STINGY DEFENSE: The Pioneers defense has allowed only 16 points in two games… All 16 points allowed were in the first half of last week's game against Union College… Through the first two games, Utica has allowed 397 yards of total offense heading into this weekend's matchup ... The defense is anchored by linebackers
Jonathan Cappotelli (Caledonia, NY/Caledonia) and
Juwan Wilson (South Ozone Park, NY/Holy Cross), who have 24 and 22 tackles this season, respectively… Sophomore
Jerry Bolivar (Elmont, NY/Sewanhaka) and junior
Nick Woodman (Utica, NY/Proctor) lead the defense with 1.5 sacks each… Eristil and senior
James Lenahan (Mahopac, NY/Mahopac) each have an interception for the Pioneers.
FIELD POSITION IS KEY:Â Senior punterÂ
Dakota Peel (Alden, NY/Alden)Â is averaging 43.43 yards per punt this season, including a 67-yard punt and three punts that kept the opposing team inside the 20 yard line.
TOUGH SCHEDULE: Three of the Pioneers scheduled opponents are ranked or receiving votes in the D3football.com week one national poll, including No. 8 St. John Fisher, No. 19 Ithaca and Brockport (receiving votes)… Utica already played its only two non-conference games this season against Misericordia and Union College to start the season … SUNY Brockport is entering its first season as an Empire 8 Conference affiliate and the Pioneers will now play eight conference games… Utica will play six road games and four home games.
SCOUTING FROSTBURG: The Bobcats are also 2-0 to start the season, coming off a 20-10 victory over Shenandoah… Senior runningback Ben Sasu scored two touchdowns to pace Frostburg on Saturday night… Senior quarterback Ken Emmons accounted for the other touchdown with a one-yard run in the fourth quarter… The Bobcats kept Shenandoah out of the end zone despite giving up 402 yards of total offense… Junior Rowan Pinkett, who earned ECAC Northeast and Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Week honors for his performance in Week 1, had 11 tackles (two for loss), a sack and a pass breakup… Senior linebacker Matt Heacock intercepted a pass and made 11 tackles… The Bobcats lean on a balanced rushing attack between Sasu, Emmons and runningback Chuky Iweh who leads the team with 102 rush yards… Through the air, Haydan Roberts leads Frostburg with 10 catches for 132 yards this season.
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NEXT UP: The Pioneers remain at home next week as they host Brockport for an Empire 8 contest Saturday night under the lights at Gaetano... Game time is set for 7 p.m.
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