ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College field hockey team will travel to Charles A. Gaetano Stadium to face Utica College for an Empire 8 Conference tilt on Saturday, October 22nd, at 1:00 p.m.

Last Time Out: The Purple and Gold lost 4-0 to No. 15 University of Rochester on Saturday, October 15th. From the jump, the Soaring Eagles had to face a barrage of shots. The Yellowjackets got off three shots in the first six minutes, the last of which resulted in the first goal for Rochester. Before the end of the half, the Soaring Eagles put together a string of offense to try and get on the board. It started in the 26th minute, when Sarah McCaffrey '18 sent in a penalty corner. From that corner the Purple and Gold strung together four shots, three of which were blocked and one that was saved. In the second half, Julia Derco '17 and Alison Mariano '18 both got solid chances to score, but they were both saved by the Yellowjackets' keeper, Kate Kujawa. Rochester added two more goals in the second half to ice the matchup away.

Hockenberger's Busy Day: EC goalkeeper Julie Hockenberger '18 had a busy day in cage during Saturday's match against the Yellowjackets. The third-year Soaring Eagle finished the game with season-high tying 17 saves, tied with a September match against SUNY Cortland. To only allow four goals after facing a season-high 38 shots from a nationally-ranked team shows how impressive Hockenberger's performance was.

Scouting Utica: The Pioneers have started to improve their play in recent weeks, winning two out of their last three contests. Utica's overall record currently sits at 4-11, while the Pioneers' E8 record is 3-4. Utica's most recent game was a 1-0 loss to SUNY Cortland on Sunday, October 16th. The strength of the Pioneers is their goalkeeper, Samantha Whitehouse. The junior goalie sits in the top 10 of multiple statistical leaderboards in the conference. Whitehouse is second in the conference in saves (144), sixth in save percentage (.762). On the offensive end of the field, the Pioneers are led by Rylee Meelan and Rachael Scaramuzzino, who share the team lead with five goals.  

Series History: Saturday's matchup will mark the 18th time that the two programs will square off. Utica owns the lead in the all-time series, 10-6-1. The Pioneers won last season's match, 4-1, despite a 12-save performance from Hockenberger. Elmira last bested Utica in September of 2012, with a 4-2 victory at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium.

Up Next: The Soaring Eagles will travel to Schmidt Stadium in Edwardsville, Pennsylvania, to take on Wilkes University in non-conference action on Tuesday, October 25th. The match is scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m.