UTICA, NY - For the first time during the 25th anniversary season, the Utica University field hockey team returns home to Gaetano Stadium! Tomorrow at 4:00 PM, the Pioneers will meet Skidmore College on ABM Field in their first home matchup of the 2025 campaign. The team also has a big matchup with nationally-ranked SUNY Geneseo on the agenda for this week, with that game taking place Saturday afternoon. Saturday's showdown with the Knights will also be the Pioneers' Mental Health Awareness Game. With lots of home action on the horizon, check out this week's field hockey preview down below to get caught up!

You can stream both of this week's games by heading to this link or clicking the "Watch" button on our athletics homepage.

Stream Link (Skidmore & Geneseo): https://www.empire8network.com/utica/

You can follow live stats by heading to this link: https://uticapioneers.com/sidearmstats/fhockey/summary

Mental Health Awareness Game: The Utica University field hockey team will be dedicating Saturday's game against SUNY Geneseo to the life and legacy of Morgan Rogers, a former Duke University Lacrosse student-athlete who passed away in July 2019 after battling mental health challenges. Although Morgan's life was cut way too short, her legacy of unconditional love remains. Morgan's Message was created by her family and former teammates with the mission of eliminating the stigma surrounding mental health, normalizing conversations about mental health, and ensuring that mental health is treated equally to physical health for all student-athletes. For more information about Morgan's Message, please visit the following link: https://www.morgansmessage.org/

RPI Recap: The Pioneers traveled to Troy on Saturday afternoon to take on the Engineers of RPI after a 13-day break that began at the beginning of September. The Pioneers went down early against the tough Liberty League side, getting off to a slow start in the matchup. Their start would end up costing them, as RPI took a sizeable lead into the half, holding the advantage up until the final whistle. 

Pioneer Captain Alanna Fragapane (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) managed to notch the first goal of her senior season in the contest, stepping up and nailing a shot from the penalty spot to grab a penalty stroke score.  The forward would also notch two shots on goal in the game, coming a few inches away from picking up even more points.

Mia Benincasa (Gansevoort, NY/South Glens Falls) also managed two shots in the contest, not drawing net but remaining active in the opposing half as she continues to find opportunities at a high rate. 

Ryleigh Johnson (Camden, NY/Camden) continued to anchor the defense, grabbing a defensive save to try and flip the momentum. She recaptured the team lead with her stop, keeping her defensive save average at one per game. 

Ismiah ChinQuee (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) got the start in goal for the Pioneers, saving 10 shots before making way for freshman keeper Sophia Weiss (Huntington, NY/Huntington), who also notched a save. 

Pioneer Potential: On offense, the Pioneers are looking for a few statement games by some of their top talents. Mia Benincasa (Gansevoort, NY/South Glens Falls), who managed to put together a great rookie season in 2024, is looking to notch her first few points of the new season during the upcoming contests. Benincasa has been extremely active on the offensive end, managing to pile up 11 shots, 10 of which have been on target (.909 SOG percentage). Despite her unlucky start, she'll look for the goals to start falling as the season moves into conference play.

Alanna Fragapane (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) also recorded her first goal of the season in the Pioneers' loss to RPI, something the team will hope gets the Pioneer Captain back into a rhythm. Fragapane had two hat-tricks during the 2024 season and will look to capture that explosiveness against two of the top programs in New York this week.

In goal, the team has relied on the services of Ismiah ChinQuee (Freehold, NJ/Freehold), alongside rookie talent Sophia Weiss (Huntington, NY/Huntington). The Pioneers have faced some formidable opposing offenses so far, though, like the offense, the duo of ChinQuee and Weiss will look to find a groove inside the circle as the season progresses. 

Scouting Skidmore: The Thoroughbreds of the Liberty League are currently 3-2 on the year after splitting their most recent matches. During that split, they lost in double overtime 1-0 to a formidable SUNY New Paltz side, before defeating Hartwick 4-1 a few days after. Skidmore has outscored their opponents by a 13-7 margin, allowing just over a goal per game during their five matchups so far. Their top 2 scorers are the senior duo of Mia Angwin and Abby Ezickson. Angwin, a  forward from South Burlington, VT, has 3 goals and 3 assists in Skidmore's 5 games played. Whilst Ezickson, a forward from Washington, DC, has 3 goals and 1 assist in 5 games. Skidmore also appreciates the help of Ella Costa on offense, as the midfielder from Maine has added a team-high five assists during the 2025 season, averaging one playmaker per game. In the cage, the team has alternated between junior Nicole Sylvestri and freshman Allison Morgan. Both keepers have seen over 100 minutes of action in the early-going, with Sylvestri posting a 0.93 goals allowed average and an 85% save percentage in her 192 minutes and Morgan posting a 1.71 goals allowed average and a 70% save percentage in her 105 minutes. 

Knowing the Knights: The currently #17 ranked Knights are 4-1 on the season headed into this week. Their ranking may be on the decline in this week's poll after a tight 2-1 loss on the road against a tough #18 Ithaca team in their last match. However, last year's Empire 8 Champions are just as good on paper this season, winning handily in their first four games to start the campaign. The Knights also flexed their defensive muscle against two teams on the Pioneers' schedule, defeating both RPI and Skidmore by 2-0 decisions at home in the Genesee Valley. They will head to Oswego on Wednesday before meeting the Pioneers on Saturday. Much like 2024, the Knights look to the expertise of New Hartford native Ella Greico on offense, with the junior already grabbing six goals and an assist in the first five games. Senior Sam Lewis also adds some energy on the offensive end, as the East Rochester graduate has notched three goals in the campaign. The Knights' top distributor is Ava Harman, who is the only multi-assist getter on the roster so far with three playmakers. In the cage, the Knights have relied solely on the services of junior keeper Bridget Schafer. Schafer has allowed five goals in 300 minutes for a square 1.00 goals allowed average. She's also managed 18 saves at a 78.3% clip, owning two shutouts in the first five games. 

After the Two-Game Homestand: The Pioneers will take the short trip over to Morrisville next Wednesday for a midweek meeting with the Mustangs. That Morrisville matchup will conclude the team's non-conference slate. Then on Saturday, the team will welcome Houghton University to Gaetano Stadium on Homecoming Saturday! Wednesday's game is scheduled for a 4:00 PM start time, while Saturday's matchup will begin at 5:00 PM.