Utica, NY- The Utica College women's lacrosse team will hit the road Thursday for a non-conference match up against Keuka College. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at Penn Yan High School near the Keuka campus. 

LAST TIME OUT: Utica is coming off a 1-1 weekend as it opened up Empire 8 Conference play… The Pioneers fell at Stevens, 17-8, before downing Hartwick 18-7… Courtney Wheeler (Ava, NY/Rome Free Academy) netted three goals on Friday while Morgan DuPont (Wynantskill, NY/Averill Park) added two more in the loss against Stevens… Against Hartwick, Megan Kane (Staten Island, NY/Tottenville) had a career-high seven goals and one assist on a day that saw seven different Pioneers score…Rebecca Plunkett (Kings Park, NY/Kings Park) added three goals while Brooke Miller (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy), Patricia Kane (Staten Island, NY/Tottenville), and Tewasherake Barnes (Akwesasne, NY/Salmon River) each added two in the win.

LEADING THE WAY: The Pioneers are led by Megan Kane (Staten Island, NY/Tottenville) who has a team-high 33 points, 25 goals, 37 groundballs, 20 caused turnovers, and 35 draw controls... She is currently third in the conference with 3.13 points per game… Over the weekend, Kane added eight goals and two assists, pushing her two goals away from tying Kat Glynn '04 for the fourth on the College's career goal-scoring list.

FRESHMAN FITTING IN: Brooke Miller (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) has made her presence felt this year… She has started every game so far this season and has collected 14 points… She has scored at least one goal in each of her last six games and her biggest performance was a four-goal outing last week against SUNY Poly. 

HELPING OUT: Six players have tallied at least ten points on the season… After Kane, junior Courtney Wheeler (Ava, NY/Rome Free Academy) and sophomore Rebecca Plunkett (Kings Park, NY/Kings Park) rank second and third on the team in scoring, respectively… Wheeler has 15 goals and three assists, while Plunkett is second on the squad with 16 goals and has added one helper… Senior Morgan DuPont (Wynantskill, NY/Averill Park) leads the team with 10 assists to go along with her five goals, followed by Miller, and Tewasherake Barnes (Akwesasne, NY/Salmon River) rounds out the field with a career-best ten points (nine goals, one assist). 

BIG D: The Pioneers rank second in the conference in scoring defense, allowing 8.63 goals per game… Utica also leads the E8 and ranks in the top 50 nationally with 10.63 caused turnovers per game… Megan Kane (Staten Island, NY/Tottenville) leads the league and ranks 27^th nationally with 2.50 caused turnovers per game, and she is also 25^th in the country with 4.63 ground balls per game.

AGAINST KEUKA: The Pioneers are 2-1 all-time against Keuka College with their lone loss coming by way of an 11-10 defeat at Gaetano Stadium last season… Megan Kane (Staten Island, NY/Tottenville) had three goals and one assist, while Morgan DuPont (Wynantskill, NY/Averill Park) and Courtney Wheeler (Ava, NY/Rome Free Academy) each had one goal and one assist).

SCOUTING THE WOLFPACK: Keuka has started the season at 4-0 and is coming off a 21-4 victory over Lancaster Bible on Friday…The Wolfpack have scored 74 goals in their four contests…They have five players with 10 or more points, led by Sydney Forshay's 17 points (10 goals, seven assists), Jennifer Burt's 16 points (12 goals, four assists), and Olivia Hudson's 14 points (11 goals, three assists).

LOOKING AHEAD: The Pioneers will enjoy a week off before returning to conference play next weekend as it hosts Alfred University and Nazareth College on Saturday and Sunday, respectively… Both games are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.