Utica, NY- The Utica College field hockey team wraps up its regular season with a pair of matches on Thursday and Sunday. The Pioneers will battle perennial E8 Contender Hartwick on Thursday, April 8th at Wright Stadium in Oneonta. On Sunday, the Pioneers tidy up the regular season with a home match against Houghton with a 1 p.m. start time.
Live Thursday: The Hartwick Athletics Communications department will provide a live broadcast of Thursday's game at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/hartwick/.
Live Sunday: The Utica College Sports Information department will have live video and stats at portal.stretchinternet.com/utica.
Where It's At: The Pioneers are 1-1 overall, and in the Empire 8 heading into their last two games. They have a loss against Fisher, and a win against Nazareth on their record.
Last Time Out: Utica and Nazareth battled to a 1-1 tie at the end of regulation, before the Pioneers scored in overtime for a 2-1 win. Madeline Krecidlo (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) scored to give the Pioneers the early lead, before the Golden Flyers tied the score to force the extra session. Sabrina Whitehouse (Greenwich, NY/Greenwich) saved the day with the game-winning goal to secure the 2-1 win.
In The Record Book: Senior Sabrina Whitehouse (Greenwich, NY/Greenwich) has earned her spot in the record books for total career points at Utica College. She has accumulated 59 points so far in her career, putting her in 9th place in the record books. Whitehouse's points come from 20 goals and 19 assists, and the season, and her career, aren't over yet. This season, she has a team-leading five shots on goal.
Strong As Steel: Goalkeeper Megan Chamberlain (Queensbury, NY/Queensbury) has played every minute of the season for UC, and has made 13 saves in her first two appearances of the season. Four field players have played over 100 minutes through the first two games for Utica this season. Jeslyn Files (Weedsport, NY/Weedsport) leads all field players with 118 minutes played. Shannon Jedrecich has played 115 minutes, and Sabrina Whitehouse (Greenwich, NY/Greenwich) has played 111. Rounding out the group over the century mark in minutes played is Taylor Oliver (Holland Patent, NY/Holland Patent) with 105.
Getting it Back In Order: One of the pivotal ways to gauge time of possession and scoring opportunities in a game is on the number of penalty corners you are earning per match. After St. John Fisher ran up a 10-3 advantage in that category in the season opener, Utica took a decisive advantage of their own with nine penalty corners to Nazareth's three in a 2-1 win. Utica now has twelve this season to the opponent's 13. Shots have also tightened up from the lopsided margin from the season opener to a count of 29-22.
History With Hartwick: Last season the Pioneers and the Hawks clashed twice. They met once in the regular season, and once in the first round of the Empire 8 Conference Tournament. During the regular season, the Pioneers came away with a 2-1 win, from a goal by Krecidlo in the closing minutes. In the conference tournament, the Hawks overcame goals by Sydney Scaccia (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) and Ricki Haab (Stowe, VT/Stowe) to win 3-2.
History With Houghton: This will be the ninth meeting between Utica and Houghton. UC leads the series eight wins to zero. The Pioneers have also never allowed more than two goals in any game they've ever played against Houghton. Utica won last year by a 4-1 score.
Sydney Scaccia (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro),
Jeslyn Files (Weedsport, NY/Weedsport),
Joanna Gaertner (Schuylerville, NY/Schuylerville), and
Lexi Scaccia (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) had the goals for UC, while Peyton Bentley had the goal for Houghton.
About Hartwick: The Hawks are 1-1, with both games decided in overtime. They lost their last game by a 3-2 score against St. John Fisher. That performance earned the Hawks two E8 weekly awards released on Tuesday, as freshman Holly Calore was named the E8 Offensive Player of the Week with two goals, and Allyson Osborne made ten saves in 62:29 to be named the E8 Defensive Player of the Week for a third time in her career. Calore's two goals this season lead the team, while Leah Tolley has the remaining Hawks goal. They finished 2019 with a 13-7 record.
About Houghton: The Highlanders are 1-1. They lost a 1-0 overtime game against Hartwick, and defeated Elmira by a 3-1 score on Thursday, March 25th. Sarah Retz and Peyton Bentley each had a goal and an assist in the win over Elmira. Sofia Gildemeister made two saves on three shots in the win.
Up Next: The Empire 8 Field Hockey championship tournament will be held from April 21st to 25th.
