UTICA, NY- The Utica College field hockey team hits the road Saturday as it opens up Empire 8 Conference play at Elmira College.  Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m.
 
LAST TIME OUT: UC dropped a tough 2-1 decision at SUNY Geneseo on Wednesday night...  The Pioneers led 1-0 early in the contest but the home team rallied with two unanswered goals, including the game-winner just 2:47 into the second half… Senior Tori Couture (Auburn, ME/Edward Little ) scored the lone goal for Utica, while classmate Kells Casey (Sandwich, MA/Kimball Union Academy) made 11 saves in net. 
 
DEFENDING THE TITLE: Saturday's contest marks the beginning of the Pioneers' quest to defend their third straight Empire 8 Conference title… UC is 18-4 in the conference over the last three years, including a perfect 8-0 record last season… Utica's last conference loss was on Oct. 5, 2013 as the Pioneers fell to E8 rival, Stevens Institute of Technology, 4-3, in overtime.
 
TOUGH SCHEDULE: Two of Utica's five loses have come against teams currently in the national rankings… UC fell to University of Rochester, which is ranked No. 15 in the latest national poll… The Pioneers also lost to SUNY New Paltz, which is just outside this week's top-20 as it received 95 total points in the national poll.
 
MOVING UP THE RANKS: Senior Kells Casey (Sandwich, MA/Kimball Union Academy) recently passed Monica Storms '12 to move into second place on the College's career saves list… She now has 314 career saves, and needs 68 more to tie Amanda McDonnell '09 for first on the list… Casey is also the program's leader in career wins, with 41… On the season, she has compiled a 2.56 goals against average and a .786 save percentage. 
 
FINDING THE BACK OF THE NET: UC has had five players score at least one goal so far on the season… Senior Colleen Dowling (Fairport, NY/Fairport) leads the team with four points (one goal, two assists), while Brittany Evans (East Syracuse, NY/East Syracuse Minoa), Tori Couture (Auburn, ME/Edward Little ), Rebecca Kauffman (Mount Joy, PA/Linden Hall), and Maria Orsino (Sauquoit, NY/Sauquoit) have also netted goals. 
 
SCOUTING ELMIRA: The Soaring Eagles are currently 1-5 and they are coming off a 3-2 loss to Wilkes University on Wednesday… Their lone win was a 3-0 victory over Keuka College… Elmira is led by sophomore Atu Machika, who has seven points (three goals, one assist) on the year.
 
AGAINST THE SOARING EAGLES: Utica is 3-2 against Elmira in the last five years… Last year, UC cruised to an 8-0 win at Gaetano Stadium on Sept. 20.
 
LOOKING AHEAD: The Pioneers return home Wednesday as they host Empire 8 foe Nazareth College… Game time is scheduled for 6 p.m.