UTICA, NY – The Utica College women's soccer team has qualified for a second straight Empire 8 Conference Tournament. The fourth seeded Pioneers will venture out to Rochester to face St. John Fisher on Wednesday in a tournament semifinal. Match time for the knockout fixture is penciled in for 7 p.m.
FOLLOW ALONG: Live video and stats for the match will be available at portal.stretchinternet.com/fisher/. In addition, fans can view the match via the free Empire 8 apps available on Roku, Amazon Fire, and AppleTV devices.
ON THE TABLE: The 10-5-1 Pioneers finished fourth in the Empire 8 Conference with a record of 3-3-1. They totaled ten standings points over the course of league play. The team has outscored opponents 12-9 in conference play this season.
IN LAST YEAR'S TOURNAMENT: The Pioneers advanced to the final in their last tournament appearance in the 2018 Empire 8 Championships held in Hoboken, New Jersey. Their semifinal match went to a scoreless 0-0 draw against Hartwick that was decided on penalty kicks. The Pioneers fell 3-0 to top-seeded Stevens the following day in the championship match.
LAST TIME OUT: The Pioneers were victorious on Saturday as they rolled past Elmira College by a final of 4-1. Utica's offense kept the heat on Elmira with a total of 26 shots in the contest. 17 of those shots landed on goal compared to Elmira's four. Mikayla Blumenstock (Poland, NY/Poland) captured her third hat trick of the season with three goals and an assist. Junior Sydney Cook (Waterville, NY/Waterville) recorded a goal and an assist in the match as well. Teammates Hope Millets (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) and Jacinta Kaminski (Holland Patent, NY/Holland Patent) also recorded assists in the contest. Allison Wagner (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua Academy) made three saves.
IN GOOD FORM: The Pioneers are 2-1-1 in their last four matches, with the lone defeat coming 1-0 to Nazareth. They have outscored opponents 11-4 over that period of time.
UNSTOPPABLE: Mikayla Blumenstock (Poland, NY/Poland) has made quite the case for a big haul in the conference's individual awards. She has dominated the entire season recording 22 goals, 46 points moving her career point total to 72. She has also netted 34 career goals. Her 22 goals and 46 points puts her easily clear of all other competitors at the top of the Empire 8 Conference leaderboard. Blumenstock is also second in the conference in shots (68) and game-winning goals (five).
CONFERENCE LEADERS: Apart from Blumenstock, junior Kierra Caissey (Gardner, MA/Gardner) ranks seventh in the conference with seven goals and is ranked fourth in game-winning goals (3). Caissey is also ranked second on the team in goals. Both Eliza Ericson (Beacon, NY/Beacon) and Sydney Cook (Waterville, NY/Waterville) are tied for third in the E8 with five assists each.
HEATING UP: Newcomer Sydney Cook (Waterville, NY/Waterville) has become an even more vibrant part of Utica's attack recently. She has five points in her last four matches with a goal and three assists. This season she has two goals and five assists as a junior transfer student.
KEEPING IT CLEAN: The Pioneers were tabbed with just a single yellow card for the entire regular season campaign in 2019. No member of the team has been carded in the last thirteen straight matches.
BRICK WALL: Senior Allison Wagner (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua Academy) has broken the 100-save mark this season with 104, 32 of which came in conference play. She is ranked fourth in the E8 in goals against averaging 1.061. Her 104 saves bumps her up to second place in the conference. She is ranked third in the conference with six shutouts, and saves per game averaging 6.93. She is the only goalkeeper in Empire 8 history to eclipse 500 career saves.
HELPING OUT: Seven different players have now recorded at least one goal for the Pioneers this season, and 14 players have recorded at least one point.
SCOUTING ST. JOHN FISHER: The 7-6-3 Cardinals are led by Megan Letta and Carli Kovarik with five goals each. Letta leads the team in assists with three. The Cardinals have not lost since September 28th and have turned around a 2-6-1 start to go 5-0-2 in their last seven appearances on the pitch. Kayla Shutts is the likely playoff starter after she started eight matches in the regular season.
MATCHUP HISTORY: The Pioneers have faced off 20 times with Fisher, with seven wins going to the Pioneers. The Pioneers held a three-game winning streak in the last decade against the Cardinals, a streak which dated from 2005-2007. Their regular season meeting ended in a 2-2 tie with goals from Blumenstock and Caissey.
NEXT TIME OUT: The Empire 8 conference final will take place on Saturday, November 9. The championship will take place at the highest remaining seed.
