UTICA, NY – The Utica College men's soccer team will the road Saturday as it travels to St. John Fisher College for an Empire 8 Conference match. Match time is set for 1:00 p.m in Pittsford, NY.
FOLLOW ALONG: Live video and stats will be made available by St. John Fisher Athletic Communications. The game will also be streamed on the Empire 8 Conference Apps available for Roku, Amazon Fire, and AppleTV devices. The app is available free of charge.
LAST TIME OUT: The 5-1-2 Pioneers are coming off an impressive win again SUNY ESF on Wednesday, thanks to the boot of freshman Jhonny Theze (Bronx, NY/Claremont International) late in the game. The score remained 0-0 until the 77th minute when senior Thomas Muller (Camillus, NY/Bishop Ludden) went down in the 18 yard box, giving Theze the opportunity to record his third goal on the year via penalty kick.
CONFERENCE LEADERS: Freshman Jhonny Theze (Bronx, NY/Claremont International) continues to captivate crowds this season. His team-leading three goals sits among the top ten in the conference. Theze leads the conference with 33 shots through eight games. Adnan Bakalovic (Utica, NY/Proctor High School) is ranked fourth in the E8 in assists on the year with three, tied with teammate Patrick Hynes (Glenmont, NY/Bethlehem).
KEY COMPONENTS: The Pioneer offense remains difficult to stop as the production comes from everywhere. Eight players now have recorded at least one goal while nine have recorded at least one assist. Through eight games, the team has a combined total of 119 shots and 59 shots on goal, averaging a little more than 7 shots on goal per game. The Pioneers are scoring 1.50 goals per match to rank third among Empire 8 sides.
SAVING THE DAY: Goalkeeper Randy Miksch (Lake Villa, IL/Warren Township) continues to impress after another shutout performance against ESF. The keeper made five saves while extending his dazzling shutout streak to 405:20. He has stonewalled the last 24 shots from opponents to land on the goal frame. He is ranked second in the E8 in goals against average with a .824 average, and leads the conference in shutouts with four. In conference play, he made all five saves in a recent 110 minute scoreless draw against Houghton. Miksch hasn't given up a goal in his last four games, and only one in his last five. The Pioneers are unbeaten across that entire stretch.
COLD HARD FACTS: With four consecutive shutout wins, the 2019 men's soccer team cements themselves in history as the first team since 1992 to cobble together four straight shutouts.
SCOUTING FISHER: Sophomore Brennan Brown leads the Cardinals offense with two goals, four assists and 10 shots on the season. Sophomore Arron Smith is the likely starter in goal as he has recorded 47 saves on the year to lead the conference. He has stopped 72.3 percent of the shots he's faced.
HISTORY: In 27 meetings between these two teams, the Pioneers have won five games, lost 20 and tied twice. The largest margin of victory for Utica was three back in 2013 when the Pioneers shutout the Cardinals 3-0. Four of Utica's five wins in the series have come by way of shutout. St. John Fisher has won the last four meetings, including last year's by a score of 1-0. Brennan Brown scored the goal for the Cardinals.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Pioneers will hit the road Wednesday to Clinton for a non-conference matchup against Hamilton College. Game time will be at 4:30 p.m.
