UTICA, NY - The Utica University men's soccer team prepares for a mini two-game homestand this week against the SUNY Cortland Red Dragons on Wednesday, September 4 at 7 p.m. and the SUNY Morrisville Mustangs on Saturday, September 7 at 3 p.m. All games will be played on Laura M. Casamento Field.
Last Time Out: The Utica University Pioneers men's soccer team fought a tough battle with the Skidmore Thoroughbreds on Friday, August 31 ending in a 1-1 draw. After a back and forth battle for possession to open the game, it was the Pioneers that were able to break it open in the 8th minute with a goal from
Noah Nassberg (Naples, FL/Gulf Coast) for his first of the season off of feeds from both
Anderson Velazquez (Norwood, NY/Marble Hill) and
Martin Mendoza (Walden, NY/The Mount Academy). After exchanging shots from either side, Skidmore squeezed one past goalkeeper
Foti Xidias (Carteret, NJ/Carteret) to tie the game at one apiece. The second frame found both sides fighting for possession. The Pioneers could generate offensive chances, but had been found offside. Both sides were able to get some offense going but could not find the back of the net.
Follow Along: All games can be watched
here and live stats can be found
here.
Point Production: The trio of
Noah Nassberg (Naples, FL/Gulf Coast),
Martin Mendoza (Walden, NY/The Mount Academy) and
Anderson Velazquez (Norwood, NY/Marble Hill) look to lead the Pioneers after each tallied a point in the team's 1-1 draw against Skidmore. Nassberg scored the team's only goal, along with two shots on goal. Mendoza and Velazquez were each credited with an assist.
Team Marks: Utica ranks in the top three in the Empire 8 with two assists and fourth in points, tallying four.
Scouting Cortland: The Red Dragons are coming off a fantastic 2023 season where they lost in the third round of the NCAA Division III to Middlebury College, 4-2. Cortland defeated Oneonta 1-0 in the SUNYAC Championship. The team has started 2024 2-0 overall and 0-0 in SUNYAC play, beating Rochester 2-1 and St. Lawrence 2-0. The team returns their top two point producers from a year ago, Matt Shultz and Mateo Marra. Marra led Cortlaand with 11 goals and 11 assists on 29 shots on goal. Shultz registered 11 goals, seven apples and 27 shots on goal. Jordan Ott returns in goal for the Red Dragons, allowing only one goal in two games on 18 shots faced. In 2023, he had a stellar .83 goals against average, 10 clean sheets, and a .791 save percentage. Utica and Cortland meet for the second time in program history, Cortland won last season 3-0.
About Morrisville: The Mustangs are 1-0 overall and 0-0 in NAC play. The team finished 2023 4-10-4 overall and 3-3-2 in league play. Morrisville is coming off a 3-0 win against Keuka College on Friday, August 30. The team saw three different goal scorers, Juan Latorre, Javier Durate and El Hadji Gueye. Latorre was the most dominant, collecting both a goal and an assist. Caleb Lucero is in goal, sporting a 1-0 record. Lucero returns after playing 15 games in 2023 and recording a 1.67 goals-against average. Utica and Morrisville last met in 2019, as the Mustangs won 2-1.
Up Next: The team takes a trip to SUNY Oneonta on Wednesday, September 11 for a 4 p.m. match start.
