UTICA, NY- The Utica College field hockey team returns home Wednesday as it hosts Nazareth College in Empire 8 Conference action.  Game time is set for 6 p.m.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Utica (2-5) got back in the win column on Saturday as it cruised to a 4-1 victory over Elmira College in the Pioneers' conference opener… Freshmen Rylee Meelan (Clinton, NY/Clinton) and Tiffany Evans (East Syracuse, NY/East Syracuse Minoa) each scored their first collegiate goals, while junior transfer Meghan McCormick (Ava, NY/RFA) netted her first in a Pioneer uniform...  Meelan led all players with five points on the afternoon… Senior Colleen Dowling (Fairport, NY/Fairport) had two assists and classmate Tori Couture (Auburn, ME/Edward Little ) chipped in with a helper of her own… Kells Casey (Sandwich, MA/Kimball Union Academy) stopped six shots in net, while Samantha Whitehouse (Greenwich, NY/Greenwich) shut the door on a penalty stroke to preserve the UC lead.
 
IN THE EMPIRE 8: UC is now 19-4 in the E8 over the last three years, including a perfect 8-0 record last season… The last time the Pioneers lost a conference match at home was on Sept. 26, 2012, when Utica fell to Elmira 4-2.
 
LEADING THE WAY: Senior Colleen Dowling (Fairport, NY/Fairport) and freshman Rylee Meelan (Clinton, NY/Clinton) rank first and second on the team in points, respectively… Dowling has one goal and four assists for six points on the season… She is currently third in the conference with .571 assists per game… Meelan has a team-best two goals and a total of five points after her breakthrough performance on Saturday… She has fired 13 shots on goal and has started all seven games this season. 
 
HELPING OUT: Eight players have scored at least one goal so far this year… Apart from Dowling and Meelan, senior Tori Couture (Auburn, ME/Edward Little ), junior Meghan McCormick (Ava, NY/RFA), sophomore Maria Orsino (Sauquoit, NY/Sauquoit), and freshmen Tiffany Evans (East Syracuse, NY/East Syracuse Minoa), Brittany Evans (East Syracuse, NY/East Syracuse Minoa), and Rebecca Kauffman (Mount Joy, PA/Linden Hall) each have one goal. 
 
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 320 career saves, and needs 62 more to tie Amanda McDonnell '09 for first on the list… Casey is also the program's leader in career wins, with 42… On the season, she has compiled a 2.34 goals against average and a .792 save percentage.
 
SCOUTING NAZ: The Golden Flyers are currently 3-3 on the year (1-1 Empire 8) and they are coming off a 1-0 loss to Washington & Jefferson in E8 action on Saturday…  Catherine Willard leads the team with six goals… Utica is 12-2 against Naz dating back to 2001… Last year, UC topped Nazareth 5-1 on the road…  The last time Naz defeated Utica was 2007 when it won 2-1.
 
LOOKING AHEAD: UC remains home this weekend as it takes on Empire 8 foe Houghton College on Saturday… Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m.

BROADCAST INFO:  Select Utica College home games are broadcast over the air and online by Utica College's student radio station, WPNR 90.7 FM… Make sure to catch live video, audio and stats on Pioneers All-Access: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/utica/.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA: Make sure to follow live updates of all the action on the Pioneers official Twitter feed: @UCPioneers … If you are at the games and on Twitter, or talking about the games on Twitter, make sure to use #UCMoose… You can also "Like" the Pioneers on Facebook at www.facebook.com/UCpioneers ... Fans can also follow the Pioneers on Instagram: UCPioneers.