UTICA, NY - The Utica University men's soccer team is set to open up play in the Empire 8 Postseason Tournament on Saturday, October 28 at 2 p.m. against Hartwick College.
 
Follow Along: Hartwick will provide live video and/or stats here.
 
Getting In: Admission will be $6 for adults, $4 for students and seniors with ID, with all children under 12 being free.
 
Last Time Out: The Utica University men's soccer team defeated the Keuka College Wolves 2-0 on Wednesday night in the team's tune-up match before the Empire 8 Postseason Tournament. Byamungu Mugushu (Syracuse, NY/Bishop Grimes) got the party started, scoring off a fantastic through ball from Brady Barnard (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) to give the Pioneers a 1-0 edge at the 15:13 mark. Martin Mendoza (Walden, NY/The Mount Academy) found the back of the net at the 84:38 mark off a feed from Kosta Karousis (Merrick, NY/W.C. Wellington Mepham) to extend the lead to 2-0. Mugushu led the Pioneers with an incredible six shots with Anderson Velazquez (Norwood, NY/Marble Hill), Cody Baker-Green (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley), Martin Mendoza (Walden, NY/The Mount Academy), Austin McCarthy (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro), Ryan Ching (Temple City, CA/Temple City), and Jalen Lucero (Gilbert, AZ/Higley) each recording three or more. Eduardo Paez (Eastchester, NY/Eastchester) started the first half making one save while earning the win and was relieved by Foti Xidias (Carteret, NJ/Carteret) who made one save in his 45 minutes of play in the second half. Utica played a tremendous first half outshooting Keuka 20 to 1 and also led 7 to 2 in corner kicks. It was a gritty first half with three yellow cards and a red card issued to the Wolves. Mugushu scored the lone goal in the half at the 15:13 mark off a beautiful pass by Barnard to aid Utica in taking a 1-0 advantage into the half. It was a much quieter second half with much less physical play. The Pioneers fired off another 14 shots in the second half to Keuka's three. Utica had some fine attempts denied by the Keuka goaltender yet broke through at the 84:38 mark as Martin Mendoza (Walden, NY/The Mount Academy) scored off a Kosta Karousis (Merrick, NY/W.C. Wellington Mepham) dime. This goal gave the Pioneers a 2-0 edge and sealed the Empire 8 victory for the team.
 
The Field: Featuring the top six teams from league play, the Empire 8 Championship Tournament is a single elimination tournament, where all games are played at the higher seed. In the first round the No. 5 Pioneers will be at No. 4 Hartwick, where the winner will go onto face off with the No. 1 Elmira College Soaring Eagles. On the other side of the bracket, No. 3 Nazareth will be hosting No. 6 Alfred, where their winner will travel to Rochester to play second-seeded St. John Fisher. The winner of the E8 Championship Tournament will be automatically entered into the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship Tournament. 
 
Postseason History: Last year, Utica was the No. 4 seed in the Empire 8 Postseason Tournament and defeated Nazareth University and St. John Fisher University in the first two rounds. The team reached the Empire 8 Championship yet fell to Medaille 3-2 in a heartbreaking double overtime loss. Kamer Lenio (Brighton, NY/Brighton) scored his first goal of the season in the Championship game and was named to the E8 All-Tournament team. Byamungu Mugushu (Syracuse, NY/Bishop Grimes) scored an unassisted goal later in the game that evened the score 2-2. The game went into two consecutive overtimes, and Medaille scored the game-winning goal less than a minute into the second overtime. In 2021, Utica was the No. 3 seed and went to the Semifinals but was defeated by Houghton University. Byamungu Mugushu (Syracuse, NY/Bishop Grimes) had an unassisted goal in the second half and scored another goal tying the score 2-2. Houghton won the game on a rebound shot, ending the game 4-3.
 
Prior Playoff Performances: Mugushu leads the charge with four playoff games under his belt and scoring at least one goal in every match. Mugushu has tallied five goals and has been clutch scoring big goals with the match on the line. Cody Baker-Green (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley) has also appeared in four matches, tallying a pair of assists while Nico Leonard (Long Beach Township, NJ/Southern Regional) and Brady Barnard (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) have each added one assist thus far in their playoff careers. Keeper Foti Xidias (Carteret, NJ/Carteret) has made four postseason starts sporting a 2-2 record with eight goals allowed and 21 saves. Xidias last season made some fantastic stops to keep Utica's magical postseason alive and played a large role in the team's success.
 
About Hartwick: The Hawks are 7-4-4 this season and a 4-4-2 Empire 8 record earning the team the No. 4 seed in the Empire 8 Tournament. Hartwick is heading into the postseason in strong form with two ties and two wins in its last four outings. The two teams met earlier this season on Wednesday, October 4 in Oneonta, NY and Hartwick won 3-1 with three second half goals. The team's top scorer is Sean Burke with six goals this season while Jake Daly is another premier offensive threat with four goals and one assist. Jim Mahoney and Andres Ordonez Acosta are two more players to watch with each boasting five points this season. Dante Gesamondo is the team's top goaltender with a 4-4-3 record in net while allowing just 10 goals this season along with 39 saves and a .796 save percentage.
 
Up Next: The winner of the match will travel to face St. John Fisher University on Wednesday, November 1 in the Empire 8 Semifinals with the time to be determined.