UTICA, NY- The Utica College men's lacrosse team travels to Hoboken, New Jersey on Wednesday to face off against the Ducks of Stevens Institute of Technology in Empire 8 Conference action. Game time in New Jersey is set for 4 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT: The Pioneers (6-6) are fresh off a tough 9-8 loss to Alfred University in conference play at home on Saturday. Junior Alex Finnegan (Bay Shore, NY/Islip) and sophomore Matthew Miller (Geneva, NY/Geneva) led the way for the Pioneers, combining for seven of the team's 13 total points. Finnegan led the team in scoring with two goals and one assist, while Miller registered a career-high three assists and added one goal. Senior goal keeper Andrew DiOrio (Greenlawn, NY/CW Post) made 15 saves in the contest for the Pioneers.

TIGHT DEFENSE: The Utica defense has proven to be a tough wall to break as the team ranks second in the conference in caused turnovers with 10.42 per game and fourth in the conference in goals against average (7.83). Senior Tom Byrne (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) leads the Utica defense in ground balls and caused turnovers with 60 and 33, respectively. He currently has 236 career ground balls which ranks fifth all-time at UC.

STEADY AND RELIABLE: Senior classmates Sean Flanagan (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) and Matt Werkmeister (Chaska, MN/Chaska) are consistently making a big impact on defense this season. Flanagan has 22 ground balls and 19 turnovers (second best on the team) while Werkmeister currently has 16 ground balls and 16 caused turnovers.

FINNEGAN MAKING A NAME FOR HIMSELF: Junior Alex Finnegan (Bay Shore, NY/Islip) has steadily become a standout player on the stat sheet as he leads the team with 22 points. He has registered at least one point in 11 of the team's 12 games and is currently enjoying a six game scoring streak.

IMPROVING OFFENSE: Before the Pioneers last game the team had only scored nine goals in its previous three games. In the team's last outing the offense upped its game as the Pioneers scored eight goals. The offense is led by Finnegan, Zack Stevenson (Elbridge, NY/Jordan-Elbridge) (20 points) and Matthew Miller (Geneva, NY/Geneva) (20 points). Stevenson also leads the team in goals with 16. So far this season five of the Pioneers have scored more than 10 goals and six Pioneers have over 12 points.

PEAKING AT THE RIGHT TIME: Junior Jeff Pierce (Clinton, NY/Clinton) and sophomores Brickman House (Oneida, WI/Pulaski) and Matt Miller have chosen no better time in the season to perform at their best. All three players have peaked in performance in the second half of the season. Pierce has scored three out of his four goals this season in the last five games, and the same goes for House, as he has scored all four of his goals this season in the last five games. Although Miller has had his name in the scoring column almost the entire season, six of his 13 goals have come in the last five games.

200 GROUND BALLS: Zack Stevenson (Elbridge, NY/Jordan-Elbridge) recently became the seventh player in program-history to record over 200 ground balls in a career. He now ranks seventh all-time with 202 career ground balls.

SCOUTING STEVENS: The Ducks are currently 7-5 overall and 3-1 in the Empire 8. Stevens ranks second in the conference in goals per game with 12.83, second in the conference in ground balls per game with 37.25 and third in the conference, right behind Utica, in caused turnovers per game with 9.83. The Stevens offense is led by junior Andrew Scrutchfield who leads the team in goals (23) and points (35).

HOW WE MATCH UP: Since the two team's first met back in 2008, Stevens has been victorious in each meeting. So far this season Stevens scores, on average, 12.83 goals per game compared to Utica's average of 7.33. But where the Pioneers have the upper hand is the team's defense only allows an average of 7.83 goals against per game compared to the Duck's defense which allows 9.17 goals per game.

LIVE OPTIONS: The Stevens athletics communications department will provide live statistics for Wednesday's contest: http://sidearmstats.com/stevens/mlax/

LOOKING AHEAD: Following the game at Stevens, Utica will then travel to Elmira College Saturday to face off against the Soaring Eagles. Game time in Elmira is scheduled for 1 p.m.