UTICA, NY - The Utica University men's soccer team hosts the SUNY Delhi Broncos on Wednesday, September 18, at 4 p.m. The match will be played at Laura M. Casamento Field. On Saturday, September 21, the Pioneers open Empire 8 play against Houghton University at 3:30 p.m. on Laura M. Casamento Field.
 
Follow Along: Both home games will be available for live video here and live stats here.
 
Last Time Out: The Utica University men's soccer team picked up a huge 2-1 against the Marywood University Pacers on Saturday, September 14. The Pioneers had eight different players record at least one shot on goal. Martin Mendoza (Walden, NY/The Mount Academy), Brady Barnard (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) and Carson Rother (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley) each scored one goal. Felix-Assa Loselose (Syracuse, NY/Nottingham) and Brandon Pender (Brooklyn, NY/Xaverian) collected the team's two assists. Foti Xidias (Carteret, NJ/Carteret) started in net for Utica, registering six saves. He tallied one in the first half and five in the second. The Pioneers struck first as Pender found Mendoza giving Utica a 1-0 lead 12 minutes into the match. With 13 minutes remaining, Barnard notched his first goal of the 2024 season extending the Pioneer's lead to 2-0. Utica let off three consecutive shots in two minutes with 10 minutes remaining from Loselose and Pender, all saved by Marywood. The Pioneers outshot the Pacers, eight to one, five of those shots were on-goal. Utica would head into halftime up 2-0. Marywood edged closer 27 minutes into the second half on a goal from Nolan Kozera, cutting the lead to 2-1 Utica.  Carson Rother (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley) tallied his first goal of the season with six minutes remaining as the Pioneers would go on to win 3-1.
 
Overall Numbers: Utica stands top five in conference play with seven goals and six assists. The team has 36 fouls, which is second to last in the E8, registering 7.20 fouls per game, the least amount in the league.
 
Not In My House: Xidias was locked in against Marywood, allowing only one goal on 12 shots faced. The defense was great in front of him, as he only needed to make one save in the first half, compared to five in the second. Xidias has 199 saves all-time, 11 short of cracking the top three.
 
Shots: Mendoza leads Utica with two goals and one assist on five shots on goal. The team has multiple players with at least one goal and six with at least one assist. Mendoza's goal against Marywood was his second in two games along with five shots, four on-goal. He is averaging 66 minutes per game this season, which is already double his time from a year ago.

Delhi Scout:  The Dehli Broncos open 2024 1-3-3 with no games played in the North Atlantic Conference (NAC). Delhi is coming off a dominant 2023 season where they went 11-3-4 and finished the season with a conference semifinal loss to SUNY Poly. The team is coming off a 4-1 loss to Oswego on September 15. Delhi's only win came against Potsdam on September 6, winning 1-0. The Broncos are top five in the NAC with shots, posting 50 and first with 26 corner kicks. Roberto Velasquez-Osorio leads the way with two goals on nine shots, three on-goal. Last season, he collected 53 points in 18 games off 24 goals and five assists on 43 shots on-goal. Matt Serrao and John Walsh have the Bronco's only assists while combining for 12 shots. Salvatore Meloni is the team's starting goalkeeper, posting a 1.23 goals against average and a .795 save percentage.
 
Delhi History: Utica holds a 3-0-1 record against Delhi all-time. Last season, the teams finished in a 1-1 draw. Baker-Green scored Utica's only goal, while Velazquez-Osorio recorded Delhi's.
 
Houghton Scout: The Highlanders are 2-2 overall and 0-0 in Empire 8 play. Caleb Bailey leads the team with six points on two goals and two assists, along with eight shots on goal. Samuel Edwards and John Fay each have two goals while Rogan Byrne, Samuel O'Brien, and Andrew Berardicurti have one goal recorded. Joshua Smith is Houghton's goalkeeper, sporting a 2.00 goals-against average and a .650 save percentage.
 
Up Next: Utica hosts St. John Fisher on Wednesday, September 25 at 7 p.m. on Laura M. Casamento Field.