UTICA, NY - Fresh off of its Empire 8 opening win, the Utica University women's soccer team will travel this week for a brief two-game road trip. The Pioneers will head to Troy, NY on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. game against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute before returning to E8 action at 6 p.m. on Saturday night at Alfred University. 
 
Follow Along: RPI will provide live video through https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiDUdwSVeuA and stats at https://rpiathletics.com/sidearmstats/wsoc/summary on Tuesday. On Saturday, Alfred will provide live video and stats through https://portal.stretchinternet.com/alfred/. 
 
Last Time Out: The team opened Empire 8 play in a big way on Saturday evening with a 6-0 victory over the Medaille University Mavericks on Senior Day. The Pioneers dominated the first half as the team-out shot the Mavericks 20-2 through the first 45 minutes. Ro Hernandez (Carmel, NY/Kennedy Catholic) began Utica's scoring surge with an 18th minute goal off of an assist by Mikayla Kelley (Ballston Spa/Ballston Spa). Gabriela Daumont (Latham, NY/Shaker) followed up nearly 1:30 later with her second strike of the season with the assist coming from Samantha Kogut (North Adams, MA/Drury). Rory Richard (Barneveld, NY/Holland Patent ) recorded her second goal of the season as well in the 39th minute with Hernandez receiving credit for the assist. Hernandez continued her monster first half with her fifth goal of the season in the 41st minute to give the Pioneers a 4-0 lead entering halftime. Utica kept control throughout the game's final 45 minutes as Hope Millets (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) drilled a senior day goal, her first of the season, coming from a dish by Hernandez. Noella Burlette (Manchester, CT/Manchester) also scored her first goal of the season on a self-rebound in the 76th minute to put the finishing touches on Utica's shutout win. The Pioneers finished the evening with a 34-6 advantage in shots led by Hernandez and Daumont with six shots each. Utica also finished with a 4-0 edge in corner kicks. Courtney Connolly (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley) earned her second win of the season after recording one save in her lone half of play while Cierra Doolen (Frankfort, NY/Central Valley Academy ) also made a save over the final 45 minutes of play. 
 
Where We Stand: Through one league contest, the Pioneers are tied for second with a 1-0 mark. The team leads the Empire 8 averaging 2.429 goals per game and is second with a 0.86 margin. Utica is also entering the thick of league play as eight of the team's final 10 games will come against conference opponents. 
 
She Is Her: After her stellar outing against Medaille, Ro Hernandez (Carmel, NY/Kennedy Catholic) earned Empire 8 Offensive Player of the Week honors. Hernandez is currently first in the E8 in total points (12), points per game (1.71), goals (five) and tied for first with a pair of game-winning goals. She's also second in the league in shots (25), shots per game (3.57), shots on goal (13) and shots on goal per game (1.86). 
 
Scouting RPI: The Engineers are currently 2-3-2 overall this season while posting a 1-0-1 mark in Liberty League play. The team has averaged 1.14 goals per game while opponents have scored 10 goals over six games. Rachel Borra and Sarah Sedlacek lead the team with two goals each as well as with five points. In goal, Megan Wampner has started each of RPI's seven games while having allowed six goals thus far. She has also recorded 22 saves on a .786 save percentage. 
 
About Alfred: The Saxons enter the week 3-4 overall, 1-1 in Empire 8 play and will travel to Penn State Altoona on Wednesday prior to hosting the Pioneers on Saturday. Alfred is fourth in the E8 averaging just over one goal per contest as well as fourth in the league allowing nearly 1.5 goals per game. Jacey Palmgreen and Nyah Solly are both within the top-10 in the conference with two goals each this season. Goalkeeper Kiani Barnard-Pratt is fourth in the E8 allowing 1.462 goals per game while finding herself seventh with a .750 save percentage. Utica is 16-4-1 all-time against Alfred including taking each of the previous two meetings. 

Up Next: Utica will return home to host Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, October 5 from Pioneer Field.