Utica, NY - The Utica College field hockey team is set to start the 2019 campaign later this week as they host the Utica College Invitational on Friday, August 30th, and Saturday, August 31st. The event is a four-team, season-opening tournament showcasing SUNY New Paltz, SUNY Oneonta and St. Lawrence in addition to the host Pioneers. The tournament will be played with a set schedule, with each team playing two pre-determined opponents. Utica will start the tournament off against SUNY New Paltz on Friday at 5 p.m., and then host SUNY Oneonta at 5 p.m. on Saturday. 

The Schedule: The Pioneers open with this weekend's tournament, then dive right in to a challenging non-conference stretch that includes traditional Liberty League powers Ithaca and Rochester. Both of those non-conference contests will also be at Gaetano Stadium, forming the balance of a season-opening four game home stand. Utica then hits the road to challenge Brockport in an additional non-conference tuneup. The early stretch promises to provide a test that should prove valuable in the team's conference opener on September 21st against defending Empire 8 champion Washington and Jefferson. After meeting the Presidents at home, the Pioneers will play a pair on the road against St. Lawrence and St. John Fisher. On Sunday, September 29th, the Pioneers will get a rare opportunity to match up with NESCAC power Colby. Utica starts off the month of October with what can be described as a "Troy Twinbill", as they will host The Sage Colleges on Saturday, October 5th in an Empire 8 clash. They then go out to the Capital District to meet Sage's neighbor, RPI, the following Tuesday for a non-conference meeting with the Engineers. Home games against Geneseo and Nazareth highlight the middle of October before a key four game road stretch against Hamilton, Elmira, Skidmore, and Hartwick. An Empire 8 contest against Houghton at Gaetano Stadium rounds out the slate.

Home Cooking: Utica will play ten regular season home games this season, which means the Pioneers will be home more frequently than in years past. The last time the Pioneers hosted ten or more regular season games was in 2012.

Year Four: This season marks the fourth for Nikki Kieffer as the head coach on the Utica sideline. She has won 20 games in her first three years, including an Empire 8 Conference championship game appearance in 2017. She was an assistant coach in 2015 following a distinguished playing career on defense for Utica.

2018 Recap: The Pioneers are coming off a 2018 season where they finished the year with a 6-11 overall record. Four Pioneers were named to the Empire 8 all-conference teams, including first team selection Rylee Meelan (Clinton, NY/Clinton), second team pick Sabrina Whitehouse (Greenwich, NY/Greenwich), honorable mention honoree Ricki Haab (Stowe, VT/Stowe), and sportsmanship team pick Maria Orsino (Sauquoit, NY/Sauquoit). Meelan led the way for the team with a career-high 39 total points, and 18 goals. She had six multi-goal games, of which the Pioneers won five. The team had a winning record within arm's length throughout the year, as five losses each came by a single goal against some traditionally strong opponents like Ithaca and Washington and Jefferson. The Pioneers posted wins over Sage, Brockport, Elmira, Houghton, Skidmore, and Oneonta. The team's largest margin of victory for the season stood at six goals, a feat they accomplished twice by scores of 7-1 in both contests. The first occurrence came in the team's Empire 8 opener against Sage, where Ricki Haab (Stowe, VT/Stowe) scored twice.  The latter came in a senior day win over Elmira College at home. Meelan led the way with two goals, and Carly Tebolt (Wappingers, NY/Roy C Ketcham) added three saves as well in the win. 

2019 Seniors: Utica will roster a wealth of experience in 2019, including seven seniors. Amanda Fitzgerald (New York Mills, NY/New York Mills), Abbey Fitzgerald (New York Mills, NY/New York Mills), Josie Sgarlata (Canastota, NY/Canastota), Joanna Gaertner (Schuylerville, NY/Schuylerville), Fiona Shea (East Greenbush, NY/Columbia), Mackenzie Stevens and Ricki Haab (Stowe, VT/Stowe) all return to comprise this year's senior class. 

Key Returners: While the Pioneers graduated seven seniors from 2018, they return three of their top four scorers this season. Leading the pack is Sabrina Whitehouse (Greenwich, NY/Greenwich), who finished her 2018 season with 16 points (five goals, six assists), which was good for second most on the roster. Sydney Scaccia (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) finished the season right behind Whitehouse with 10 points (three goals, four assists), and Ricki Haab (Stowe, VT/Stowe) followed with nine points (three goals, three assists). The Pioneers ranked fifth in the conference last season in scoring offense.

Right Place, Right Time: Utica returns a key defensive presence out of the midfield in the form of junior Jenny Robbins (Hamburg, NY/Hamburg). Robbins was a defensive lifeline for the Pioneers at the front of the net last season, as her five defensive saves ranked fifth in the Empire 8 conference. That figure is also second among players returning to the conference this season. 

Chamberlain's Net: Starting goalkeeper Megan Chamberlain (Queensbury, NY/Queensbury) will will also be returning in 2019 for her sophomore season. The Queensbury, New York native started 14 of the 17 games in the net last season for the Pioneers en route to a .755 save percentage while allowing 2.90 goals per game. She held opponents to just one penalty stroke goal in four attempts last season.

Keeping It Clean: As a group, the 2018 Pioneers excelled at maintaining a high standard of play that made penalty cards an infrequent occurrence, and kept them playing with a full team on the field. Utica took just a single yellow card for the entire season, and only incurred six green card fouls over the course of the seventeen game season. The last time Utica incurred just a single yellow card for the entire year was in 2007. 

Fresh Faces: The Pioneers welcome four freshmen to this team this year. Two local names highlight the class in Lindsey Foster (Durhamville, NY/Vernon-Verona-Sherrill) and Mackenzie O'Herien (Oneida, NY/Oneida). Foster, a midfielder, played for Vernon-Verona-Sherrill. O'Herien, a forward, played just a short drive down Route 5 at rival Oneida. Two others come to Utica from outside the immediate area. Defender Jenna Carbone (Gloversville, NY/Gloversville) takes her talents westward after a strong high school career at Gloversville. Midfielder Shannon Jedreicich (Deer Park, NY/Half Hollow Hills East) hails from Suffolk County, where she played for the combined Half Hollow Hills school district team. She attended Half Hollow Hills East High School. 

The Opening Weekend: Utica starts its season at home for the first time since 2012 this weekend with the Utica College Invitational. The tournament has been rotating hosting duties recently between the four participating schools. New Paltz hosted in 2018, Oneonta hosted in 2017, St. Lawrence hosted in 2016, and the Pioneers most recently played this tournament at home in 2015. The Pioneers start the season against SUNY New Paltz, which is coming off a very successful 2018 season. The Hawks took home the SUNYAC championship last season, and are expecting to return all but three players in 2019. This is the second year in a row Utica has started its season against SUNY New Paltz. The Pioneers will finish the season-opening tournament against SUNY Oneonta. The Dragons finished the 2018 season with a 10-9 record and qualified for the SUNYAC tournament, but fell to SUNY Cortland in the semifinals. The Pioneers faced SUNY Oneonta in the second game of the season last year, where they won 4-3 to clinch their first win of the season.

On Tap: After the tournament, the Pioneers will host Ithaca in a non-conference affair on Wednesday, September 4th. The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.