UTICA, NY -- The honors continue to roll in for Utica College senior defensive lineman Nicholas Bruzzese (Utica, NY/Proctor) as he was named to the D3football.com National Team of the Week for the first time in his career on Tuesday.  Bruzzese is the second Pioneer in as many weeks to earn National Team of the Week status, joining senior specialist Nicodemus Gambill (Rochester, NY/East High) who was honored following his 97 yard kickoff return for a touchdown in week nine against Alfred. Bruzzese is now the eighth player in program-history to earn the National Team of the Week distinction.

Bruzzese was also honored this week as the Empire 8 Conference Player of the Week after he set a new school-record with 4.5 sacks in the Pioneers 52-40 win over Hartwick College on Saturday.  He finished the regular season ranked first in the Empire 8 with eight sacks. He also leads all Utica defensive lineman with a career-high 36 tackles this season.

He now ranks fourth on the College's all-time list with 14.0 career sacks. He has played in 31 career games and has 101 tackles to go along with 21.5 tackles for a loss of 104 yards.

On Monday afternoon, the Utica College football team was selected to participate in an ECAC Bowl game for just the second time in program-history. The Pioneers will travel to historic Franklin Field on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania to take on Westminster College (PA) in the James Lynah Bowl this coming Saturday at 11 a.m.

Utica (7-3) tied a program-record with seven victories during the regular season. The last time Utica won seven games was back in 2014 when the Pioneers earned their first ECAC Bowl bid in program-history.