UTICA, NY - The Utica University men's soccer team welcomes cross-town rival SUNY Poly on Wednesday, October 2. Match time is set for 5 p.m. at Laura M. Casamento Field. The Pioneers travel to SUNY Geneseo on Saturday, October 5 at 1 p.m.
 
Follow Along: Utica's home match against Elmira can be watched here. Live stats can be found here. Geneseo's live video can be found here and live stats here.
 
Last Time Out: The Utica University men's soccer team dropped its conference matchup with the Elmira Soaring Eagles 3-0 on Saturday, September 28. Anderson Velazquez (Norwood, NY/Marble Hill) finished the afternoon with six shots, three on goal. Ryan Schlacter (Phoenix, NY/Phoenix), Ellis Urgent (Cornwall, NY/Cornwall Central), Noah Scranton (Utica, NY/Whitesboro) each had one shot on goal and four other players had at least one shot. Urgent returned after being sidelined from injury during the first match. Foti Xidias (Carteret, NJ/Carteret) started in the cage for Utica, stopping seven shots. The Soaring Eagles struck first 5:28 into the match as Johan Chavez sent a very accurate corner into the box; the only thing Xidias could do was attempt to punch it out of the goal, however it rolled in for a 1-0 lead. Both teams combined for 13 shots in the first 30 minutes of action. Just under 17 minutes to play, Chavez notched his second goal off a penalty kick giving Elmira an early 2-0 advantage. Utica would finish the second half with five shots. Elmira scored its third goal 23 minutes into the second half, credited to Kostantinos Triantafillou. Utica led the second half with nine shots and both teams only had one corner kick. Elmira would full away with a 3-0 victory.
 
Meat and Potatoes: Utica stands seventh in conference play with 106 shots and second with 41 saves and a stellar 65 fouls, which is second least in the E8. Velazquez leads Utica with 28 shots, 13 on goal. He has a shot in every match played this season and his most came against Elmira on September 28 (6). Velazquez's ability to release shots in tight spaces is spectacular.
 
League Foes: This is the first time Utica faces Poly and Geneseo as Empire 8 foes.
 
Scouting Poly: The Wildcats are 6-2 overall and 1-1 in league play. Poly is coming off a two-win week, beating Hartwick (2-1) and MCLA (2-0). Their biggest loss so far in 2024 came to Hamilton (4-1), and their only other loss came against Elmira (1-0). Poly is out scoring its opponents 21 to 8 and outshooting them 126 to 86. Poly ranks second in conference play with 21 goals and eight assists. Johnny Theze is off to a stellar start this season, scoring six goals. All six came in the first four games. Last season against Utica he scored two goals, which was a season-high. Four different players have at least two assists through eight matches. Ryan Primus has started all eight matches, posting a 1.11 goals against average and a .667 save percentage. He has allowed a goal in the last five out of six matches and his most allowed came against Hamilton College (4). Last fall against the Pioneers, Primus allowed four goals (his most all season) and had a season-high nine saves.
 
Cross-Town Facts: Utica enters Wednesday's matchup holding a 25-13-3 overall record against Poly. Utica won last season 4-3, and dropped the previous two matches in 2022 and 2021. The Pioneers dominated the matchup for 10 consecutive years from 2007 through 2017, going 8-1-1 overall. 
 
About Geneseo: The Knights are 3-2-3 overall and 2-0-1 in E8 play. Geneseo is coming off a 3-1 victory against Russell Sage on Sept. 28. The team's only two losses came against Alfred St. (2-1) and Rochester (3-1). Stefen Nikolic leads the Knights with three goals and two assists. Erica Famularo and Chancel Shabani have two goals each; Shabani has two shots on goal for a 100 percent shooting percentage. Vincent Maronski has started all eight matches, sporting a .92 goals-against average and a .739 save percentage.
 
Up Next: Utica travels to Albany, NY for a match with Russell Sage College on Wednesday, October 9 at 7 p.m.