UTICA, NY - The Utica University men's soccer team is set to begin its new season against the Skidmore College Thoroughbreds at 6:00 PM on Saturday, August 30th at Laura M. Casamento Field. The Pioneers will then travel to Scranton, PA for a matchup against Marywood University on Sunday, September 1st at 4 p.m.
 
Follow Along: Those unable to attend the home match against Skidmore can tune in for live video here and live stats here.
 
Live video for the Marywood matchup can be found here and live stats here.
 
Hungry For More: Utica finished the 2023 campaign with a 5-9-3 overall record and went 3-3-2 in conference action. The Pioneers finished with a 5-3-1 record on home turf, with their biggest win coming against Nazareth University on September 30th as Byamungu Mugushu (Syracuse, NY/Bishop Grimes) scored with 24 minutes remaining to seal the match. Utica fell short in the First Round of the Empire 8 Tournament against Hartwick College, falling 2-0.
 
At the Helm: Head coach Brian Marcantonio begins his 11th season as the Utica University head coach after leading the team to its first Empire 8 Championship appearance in 2022, which included upsetting the number one seeded St. John Fisher Cardinals 4-2 in penalty kicks on their home turf in the semifinals. Marcantonio has eclipsed 60 wins thus far with the program and looks to continue building upon the team's recent success. Assistant coach Jeremy Pantoni begins his second season with Utica after playing four seasons at SUNY Oneonta with 72 appearances, 32 games started, 30 points and over 3000 minutes logged throughout his career.
 
Season Outlook: Utica's 18-game schedule will consist of 10 home games (six Empire 8, four non-conference) and eight away games (five Empire 8, and three non-conference). The season-opener will be against Skidmore College before heading to Marywood University for its first road game. To end the first half of September, the team will host SUNY Cortland and SUNY Morrisville before heading to SUNY Oneonta. Utica will continue the month by hosting SUNY Delhi, Houghton University, and St. John Fisher, then a quick trip to Elmira to finish September. October is loaded with nine games, four home and five away. The matchup on October 26 against SUNY Brockport will be the University's homecoming game. Senior Day is TBD.
 
Running it Back: Utica will keep its core in the 2024 season, returning 23 players, including Cody Baker-Green (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley), Brady Barnard (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool), Noah Nassberg (Naples, FL/Gulf Coast), Andersen Velazquez, Foti Xidias (Carteret, NJ/Carteret) and Eduardo Paez (Eastchester, NY/Eastchester) as headliners. Baker-Green, Barnard, Nassberg, and Velazquez combined for four goals last season. Paez returns as the Pioneers' top goaltender after posting a .645 save percentage and a 1.49 goals-against average in ten games. Xidias enters the season with 42 career games under his belt and a stellar 1.57 goals-against career average. His 181 is top five in Pioneer history, along with his eight clean sheets.
 
Key Losses: The team lost 10 players, with Mugushu being the most impactful. Mugushu's career was nothing short of exceptional, posting 52 points on 21 goals and 10 assists in 56 career games played. Mugushu was fantastic all season long and constantly led the attack for Utica. The senior was top-10 in the Empire 8 in shots, shots on goal, game-winning goals, while his six goals were tied for fifth in the conference.
 
New Faces: The team introduces seven new players, headlined by transfer Maximilian Pawlowski (Utica, NY/Whitesboro), who was named 2023 United Soccer Coaches Junior College Men's Scholar All-American. For one season at Herkimer, Pawlowski registered four goals and six assists in the team's dominant season as they finished third in the NJCAA DIII Soccer Championship. In the Championship game against Nassau Community College, he scored a season-high two goals on only three shots on goal. Other notable transfers are the duo of Connor Hillis (Vestal, NY/Vestal) and Stavi Ruhusa (Syracuse, NY/Nottingham). Hillis attended Lackawanna College, while Ruhusa went to SUNY Morrisville. The new faces bring depth to the Pioneers all over the field. New midfielders include Anderson Palma (Walden, NY/Valley Central) and Pawlowski. Forwards include, Robert Sherman () and Orin Williams (Mt. Vernon, NY/Sacred Heart), who returns after not competing in the 2023 season due to injury. The backend features Ellis Urgent (Cornwall, NY/Cornwall Central), who was a New York high school All-Section honors in '23 and '24, Connor Hillis (Vestal, NY/Vestal), and Ruhusa. The lone goalkeeper includes Cade Tavares (Endicott, NY/Union-Endicott).
 
About Skidmore: The Skidmore College Thoroughbreds finished its 2023 season 4-10-2 overall with a 3-6 liberty league record. The team's biggest victories came in October against RIT (1-0) and RPI (2-1). Skidmore was led by freshman Colin Goodhines, who scored four goals, tallied one assist, and logged nine shots on goal. Kim Hyungbin was the Thoroughbred's second-leading point producer with three goals and two assists. Two of Hyungbin's goals came in the team's second game against John Jay College on September 13, 2023. Last season, Skidmore saw goalkeepers Will Devall and Luca-Bravo Frederick split their starts. Devall led the way with a 2-1 record and one shutout while posting a 2.00 goals-against average. Both Goodhines and Hyungbin return for the 2024 season, along with goalkeeper Devall.
 
Scouting Marywood: The Marywood University Pacers enter 2024 after a solid 2023 season, going 8-9-2 overall and 2-2-2 in league play (Atlantic East Conference). Last season, the team fell short in the AEC conference semifinal against Cabrini University, falling 2-1. Danny Gomez was Marywood's top player, collecting six goals and three assists, along with going two-for-two on penalty kicks. In the last five games of the season, Gomez recorded six points on three goals. The Pacers will be without goalkeeper Alex Russo, who started 17 of 19 games last season, sporting a 7-8-2 record, five clean sheets and a 1.47 goals-against average. Niko Leibkuchler is the only returner between the pipes.
 
Up Next: Utica will host SUNY Cortland on Wednesday, September 4th at 7 p.m.