UTICA, NY - The Utica University women's soccer team continues conference play this week as the team makes the short trip to take on cross-town rival and Empire 8 Conference newcomer SUNY Poly on Wednesday, October 2 at 6pm. The team then returns home to take on Empire 8 Conference newcomer SUNY Geneseo on Saturday, October 5 at 4pm. 
 
Follow Along: Wednesday's live video can be found at https://empire8network.com/poly/ and live stats can be found at https://wildcats.sunypoly.edu/sidearmstats/wsoc/summary . Live video for Saturday can be found at https://www.empire8network.com/utica/ and live stats can be found at https://uticapioneers.com/sidearmstats/wsoc/summary .
 
Last Time Out: Finding the back of the net for the Pioneers was Amber Piersma (Cassville, NY/Mount Markham), Bella Noble (Staten Island, NY/Tottenville), and Kayla Giovingo (Centereach, NY/Centereach) for her first goal of the season. Assisting on the Giovingo goal was Rory Richard (Barneveld, NY/Holland Patent), who also recorded two shots in the contest. Noella Burlette (Manchester, CT/Manchester) and Natalia Bell (Cortland, NY/Groton) also registered a shot in the winning effort. In goal for the Pioneers, goalkeepers Courtney Connolly (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley) and Karen Troche (Amsterdam, NY/Amsterdam) combined for the shutout effort, with Connolly making one save.
 
Where We Stand: With the new expanded eight-team playoff format for the Empire 8 Championship tournament, the Pioneers are currently chasing the final spot into the tournament. The Pioneers are currently averaging 1.556 goals per game, and opponents have scored on average 1.44 goals on Utica. The Pioneers have registered 117 shots this season, a mark good enough for fourth on the conference leaderboard. The Utica goalkeepers have combined for a .759 save percentage thus far, and are averaging 4.56 saves per game. 
 
Spreading the Wealth: 17 different Pioneers have recorded a shot so far this season. Amber Piersma (Cassville, NY/Mount Markham) has recorded a shot in all nine Utica contests so far this season, for a team high 28 shots that is a mark good enough for sixth on the Empire 8 Conference leaderboard. Bella Noble (Staten Island, NY/Tottenville) and Rylee Lamphere (Little Falls, NY/Dolgeville) have also been at the top of the team leaderboard with 17 and 16 shots, respectively. 
 
Brick Walls: The Pioneer efforts between the pipes have been nothing to sneeze at. Goaltenders Courtney Connolly (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley), Emily Duri, Hannah Pcola (Cassville, NY/Mount Markham), and Karen Troche (Amsterdam, NY/Amsterdam) have combined for a .759 save percentage so far this season, and have posted a 1.44 goals against average on the season. Connolly has posted a shutout of her own this season, as well as a combined shutout with Troche last weekend when the team honored it's seniors. 
 
Looking at Poly: The Empire 8 Conference newcomers SUNY Poly Wildcats are currently 4-4 on the season so far and have been blanked in conference play posting an 0-3 record to start the conference slate. Kate Donnelly currently holds the team lead in the goal column with six tallies to start the season. Donelly and Hannah Shipley have been the ones to fire the offensive efforts for the Wildcats, recording 16 and 14 shots, respectively. Between the pipes for the Wildcats has been Katie Bowers who has allowed 10 goals so far this season, posting a 2.50 goals against average. 
 
Scouting Geneseo: The Empire 8 Conference newcomers SUNY Geneseo Knights are currently standing at 2-1 in conference play and have found themselves 4-3-2 overall. Last outing, the Knights out-shot the Russell Sage Gators by a margin of 11-4. Lindsey Matthews is the Knights leading goal scorer, finding the back of the net five times so far this season, a mark good enough for eighth on the conference leaderboard. Goalkeeper Mollie Collins has allowed eight goals so far this season, posting a .918 goals against average. She has made 51 saves so far this season, posting a .864 save percentage, a mark good enough fourth in the conference. 

Up Next: Utica continues conference play, hosting Russell Sage College on Wednesday, October 9. Game time from Laura Casamento Field is set for 4pm.