UTICA, NY- The Utica College field hockey team hits the road on Wednesday as it travels to Troy, NY to take on Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.  Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.
 
LAST TIME OUT: UC rallied from a one-goal second half deficit and earned a key 3-2 victory over visiting Nazareth College in Empire 8 Conference action on Saturday… Rylee Meelan (Clinton, NY/Clinton) converted a penalty stroke to knot the score at 2-2 with 2:15 remaining on the game clock…  With 57 seconds left in regulation, freshman Sabrina Whitehouse (Greenwich, NY/Greenwich) collected a pass from Jenny Robbins (Hamburg, NY/Hamburg) and found the back of the cage to give the Pioneers a 3-2 advantage… Josie Sgarlata (Canastota, NY/Canastota) also scored for Utica, while Samantha Whitehouse (Greenwich, NY/Greenwich) made five saves. 
 
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Senior Jordan Noga (Marcy, NY/Whitesboro) was named the Empire 8 Conference Defensive Player of the week on Monday… Noga made two defensive saves and helped lead the Pioneer defense to a pair of wins last week…  On Wednesday, she saved a goal in the first half to keep the game scoreless before UC was able to pull away with a 3-1 win over Ithaca...  She followed that up with another defensive save in the Pioneers' thrilling win over Nazareth on Saturday…  On the year, Noga leads the conference and ranks third nationally with four defensive saves so far.
 
ON THE ATTACK: Eight different players have tallied at least one point on the year… Junior Rylee Meelan (Clinton, NY/Clinton) leads the team with three goals… Melissa Koch (Syracuse, NY/East Syracuse Minoa) and Joanna Gaertner (Schuylerville, NY/Schuylerville) have two goals apiece, while Sabrina Whitehouse (Greenwich, NY/Greenwich) and Josie Sgarlata (Canastota, NY/Canastota) each have one goal and one assist… Madison Williams (Prospect, NY/Holland Patent) has found the back of the net once and Jessica Belt (Webster, NY/Webster-Schroeder) and Jenny Robbins (Hamburg, NY/Hamburg) have each dished out one assist.
 
SCOUTING RPI: The Engineers are still looking for their first win of the season as they are 0-4… RPI is coming off a 2-1 loss to Endicott on Saturday… Taylor Clink leads the team with three goals. 
 
AGAINST THE ENGINEERS: UC is 8-8 all-time against RPI… Last year, the Pioneers fell 5-1 after giving up five unanswered goals… Josie Sgarlata (Canastota, NY/Canastota) netted the lone tally for UC.
 
LOOKING AHEAD: The Pioneers return home Saturday as they take on conference opponent, Houghton College… Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m.