Men's Soccer | 9/8/2015 4:39:00 PM
UTICA, NY – The Utica College men's soccer team returns home on Wednesday night to take on SUNY Polytechnic in non-conference action on the turf at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium (5 p.m.).
LOOKING TO GET IN THE WIN COLUMN: The Pioneers (0-3) opened the season with three extremely competitive opponents who currently have a combined record of 6-2-1 (Hobart, Gordon, Endicott) … The last time UC started the season 0-3 was back in 2013 when the Pioneers went on to finish the year with a 10-10 overall record as they advanced to the Empire 8 Conference Tournament Championship game for the first and only time in program-history.
LOCAL RIVALS: The Pioneers are 9-2-1 against SUNY Poly dating back to 2003 … UC has shut out the Wildcats in six of those 12 meetings … UC's only two losses in the last 12 meetings were a 2-1 defeat in 2006 and a 1-0 loss in 2013… The Pioneers have outscored the Wildcats 26-8 in the last 12 meetings.
RUFFING KEEPS IT GOING: Utica College senior forward
Shane Ruffing (Rochester, NY/Westborough) has a goal in both of the games that he has played in this season … His two goals are tied for fourth in the Empire 8 Conference and lead the team … Ruffing needs two more goals to break the school's career record for goals scored … He currently has 25 career goals and trails Evan DuFault '07 and
Kevin McAllister '13, who each netted 26 goals in their time at Utica … Ruffing also needs seven points to move into third place on the College's all-time points list … He currently has 56 career points (25 goals, six assists).
LAST MEETING: (9/3/14) – UC rallied from a 2-0 deficit by scoring two goals in the final 5:43 of regulation to earn a 2-2 tie against host SUNY Poly last season … Trailing 2-0 late in the contest, Utica's
Shane Ruffing (Rochester, NY/Westborough) headed home his sixth goal of the season at 84:17 to cut the Pioneers' deficit in half …
Chris Stashko (Apalachin, NY/Apalachin) added the equalizer on a penalty kick for the Pioneers just 3:54 later to knot the score at 2-2 with 1:49 left in regulation … Both teams were held scoreless over the course of two ten minute overtime periods and the contest ended in a 2-2 draw.
LENDING A HELPING HAND: Sophomore forward
Bita Gazashvili (Tiblisi, Georgia) currently ranks second in the conference with two assists … He now has nine career assists which is tied for 10
th in the College's all-time record book.
FIRST CAREER GOAL: Senior captain
Justin Schray (Oxford, NY/Oxford) netted his first collegiate goal in the Pioneers' 3-1 loss to Gordon College on Friday night … Schray has now played in 32 career games for the Pioneers.
GOALIE SITUATION: Utica's
Nick Hallett (Adams, NY/South Jefferson CSD) has started all three games for the Pioneers and he has posted 18 saves to go along with a 2.67 goals against average.
NEXT ON THE DOCKET: The Pioneers will hit the road on Saturday when they travel to Oswego to take on the Lakers at 7 p.m. … UC returns home on Sunday when they host Wells College in non-conference action at Gaetano Stadium.
PIONEERS ALL-ACCESS: If you can't make it out to Charles A. Gaetano Stadium to watch the game in person, Pioneers All-Access is the place to be on game day, providing live video, audio (WPNR 90.7 FM) and stats for all UC home games at the stadium… Pioneers All-Access is a completely FREE service provided for those members of the Pioneer nation that might not be able to make it out to the game … Live statistics and social media are fully integrated into the Pioneers All-Access site for the most comprehensive viewing experience … Make sure to check out Pioneers All-Access at
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.
