Utica, NY - The Utica College field hockey team is set to continue its five-game road trip in a non-conference matchup against Hamilton on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

Last Time Out: The Utica College field hockey team advanced to 6-8 on the season and 4-1 in the Empire 8 in a 2-1 shootout victory over the Elmira College Soaring Eagles on Saturday afternoon. This win solidified the Pioneers at the No. 2 spot in the Empire 8, sitting one slot behind the first-placed St. John Fisher. Elmira set the tone early in this one, with a redirected goal from freshman Kylie Rosen to take a 1-0 lead in the sixth minute of the contest. The Pioneers responded early on in the second half, as junior Sydney Scaccia (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) notched her eighth goal of the season to tie junior Sabrina Whitehouse (Greenwich, NY/Greenwich) for a team-high 19 points. This score made it one-all, a score that would remain for the rest of regulation.The two teams then battled through a scoreless, seven-on-seven overtime before heading to a shootout. The best-of-five shootout extended as well, as both teams remained even after two rounds. However, a missed Elmira attempt followed by a successful Whitehouse conversion sealed a 2-1 Utica victory.

Coming In Hot: The Pioneers enter this contest winning four of their last five games with victories over Sage, RPI, Nazareth and Elmira. The only loss in this time span came against the 14-2 Geneseo Knights by a score of 4-3

Overtime Success: Utica's last three victories have come in either overtime or a shootout. On the season UC has notched four overtime victories while only dropping one.

Down The Stretch: Utica solidified itself in the No. 2 spot of the Empire 8 with its last win over Elmira last Saturday. Moving to 4-1 in conference, the Pioneers bumped up from sharing this spot with Washington & Jefferson to stand-alone at second.

Catching Fire: Whitehouse shares the team-high in points with 19 on six goals and seven assists this season.The 2018 second-team Empire 8 selection has also posted an impressive 12 points over her last five matches en route to being named the E8 Offensive Player of the Week for the second consecutive week.

Scaccia's Offense: Sydney Scaccia (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) is having a breakout year, as she currently shares the top-spot in points with Whitehouse, as she has accumulated a 19-point stat line on eight goals and three assists. This marks a historic season for Scaccia, as she has  broken her single-season point and goal total.

Offensive Consistency: Scaccia and Whitehouse are the only Pioneers who have recorded at least one point in nine of the team's 14 matches this year.
 
Chamberlain's Net: Sophomore goalie Megan Chamberlain (Queensbury, NY/Queensbury) remains atop the Empire 8 leader board in both saves with 126 and is second in saves per game with nine.

Defensive Specialists: Outside of Chamberlain, who has played all 880 minutes for the Pioneers this season, senior Makenzie Stevens (New York Mills, NY/New York Mills) leads the team in minutes played with 873. Stevens, along with junior Katherine LeRoy (Cicero, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse), have served as the nucleus of the Pioneer defense all season. Stevens is also ranked second in the Empire 8 in defensive saves with eight, which is a single-season program record at Utica.

Scouting Hamilton: The Continentals have accumulated a 5-7 overall record thus far in 2019, and they are 3-6 in the NESCAC. Hamilton has won two of its last three heading into this contest. Maddie Beitler and Michaela Giuttari share the team-high in points with 16. Bietler has reached this point via eight goals, while Giuttari has on six goals and four assists.

Even History: This matchup is pretty much as even as it could get, with the Pioneers winning nine of the 17 games against Hamilton in program history.

Up Next: The Pioneers return to conference play in their next road match against the Hartwick Hawks on Saturday at 1 p.m.