Utica, NY (4/10/15)- The Utica College women's lacrosse team returns home this weekend for a pair of key Empire 8 Conference match ups. Utica faces Alfred University on Saturday and Nazareth College on Sunday. Face-off is set for 1 p.m. both days at Charles A. Gaetano stadium.

PLAYING FOR A CAUSE: On Saturday, the Pioneers have dedicated their game to raising awareness for Angelman Syndrome… Angelman Syndrome is a rare neuro-genetic disorder that occurs in one in 15,000 live births… The characteristics of the disorder include developmental delay, lack of speech, seizures, and walking and balance disorders… During the game there will be a 50/50 raffle and the Pioneers will be accepting donations as fans enter the stadium...  All proceeds will go to the Angelman Syndrome Foundation...  Fans who are not able to make it to the game can make donations through the Angelman Syndrome Foundation website: http://www.angelman.org/.

DIVISION III WEEK: Utica College is celebrating Division III Week throughout its home games on Saturday … The goal of Division III Week is for an institution to hold and promote an activity in order to raise local and national attention to build greater awareness and understanding of Division III athletics … Utica College's SAAC is rallying support from the campus community to attend all of UC's home games on Saturday … Fans are asked to wear ORANGE in support of the Pioneers at the men's home tennis match (1 p.m.), the women's lacrosse game (1 p.m.) and the men's lacrosse game (4 p.m.) … SAAC is also hosting a poster contest that will take place at all three sporting events …  The top two posters will be posted on the UCPioneers Instagram account at halftime of the men's lacrosse game, and the poster with the most likes over the course of a two hour time frame will win a prize courtesy of SAAC.

LAST TIME OUT: The Pioneers are coming off a 19-4 victory over Keuka College last Thursday… Freshman Brooke Miller (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) and senior Megan Kane (Staten Island, NY/Tottenville) led UC in scoring with four goals each… Kane also added four ground balls and four draw controls… Courtney Wheeler (Ava, NY/Rome Free Academy) and Morgan DuPont (Wynantskill, NY/Averill Park) each added three goals while DuPont led the team with four assists… Kells Casey (Sandwich, MA/Kimball Union Academy) had seven saves in her fifth win of the season.

LEADING THE CHARGE: The Pioneers are led by senior Megan Kane (Staten Island, NY/Tottenville) who has a team high 37 points, 41 ground balls, 20 caused turnovers, and 39 draw controls…Kane is currently 23^rd in the nation and first in the conference in groundballs, and 42^nd nationally and first in conference in caused turnovers…Last game Kane put up four goals, tying her with Jennifer Munisteri '06 for third on the career goal-scoring list at UC... She is also third all time with 157 career points, ten shy of Pioneer Hall of Famer Kristy Patchett.

HELPING OUT: UC has six players with over 10 points on the season…After Kane, junior Courtney Wheeler (Ava, NY/Rome Free Academy) and senior Morgan DuPont (Wynantskill, NY/Averill Park) rank second and third on the team in points, respectively…Wheeler has 18 goals and six assists, while DuPont has a team high 14 assists to go along with her eight goals…Rebecca Plunkett (Kings Park, NY/Kings Park) is fourth on the team with 20 points (18 goals, two assists) followed by freshman Brooke Miller (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) and Tewasherake Barnes (Akwesasne, NY/Salmon River)… Miller has 18 points (15 goals, three assists) and Barnes has tallied a career-high 11 points (nine goals, two assists). 

STRONG DEFENSE: The Utica defense is ranked second in the Empire 8 in scoring defense, allowing 8.11 goals per game…The team is also second in the conference in caused turnovers with 10.67 per game…Goalie Kells Casey (Sandwich, MA/Kimball Union Academy) leads the E8 in goals against average (8.52).

AGAINST ALFRED: The Pioneers are 5-0 against Alfred over the last five match ups and are 10-3 against Alfred since the start of the program in 2001… The Pioneers last lost to the Saxons in 2004.

SCOUTING THE SAXONS: The Saxons are 1-5 so far this year…They head into the match up against UC following a 13-11 win over Medaille College on Wednesday…The Saxons are led by Kaitlyn Button's 29 points (22 goals, seven assists) and 17 points from Megan Wendt (13 goals, four assists)…Shannon Gray has collected 60 saves in goal for the Saxons.

SCOUTING NAZ: The Golden Flyers are 8-2 on the year and are currently unbeaten in the E8 with a 3-0 mark in league play… Naz is led by the duo of Brooke Sullivan and Haley DeVona, who each have 29 points (20 goals, nine assists) in ten games this season… UC is 0-5 against Nazareth in the last five years.

LOOKING AHEAD: Following this weekend's games, Utica will return to action next weekend as it travels to Elmira College (Saturday) and St. John Fisher College (Sunday)… Start time for both games is scheduled for 12 p.m.