ELMIRA, N.Y. -- Elmira College field hockey will travel to Schmidt Stadium in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, to square off against Wilkes University in non-conference action on Tuesday, October 25th, at 7:00 p.m.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Purple and Gold lost a hard-fought battle to Utica College, 3-0. The Soaring Eagles faced a barrage of shots to start the contest, seeing six shots in the first 10 minutes of action. Junior goalie Julie Hockenberger '18 was up for the challenge, turning away three shots in that 10-minute stretch. After a scoreless first half, the Pioneers finally broke through the Elmira defense and scored the first goal. The Soaring Eagles were unable to mount a comeback, only getting one shot in the second half. The lone attempt in the half for EC came off of the stick of Alison Mariano '18, but it was kicked away by Utica goalie Samantha Whitehouse. The Pioneers would go on to score twice more to secure a three-goal victory.
 
STRONG DEFENSE: The Purple and Gold held Utica scoreless for the first half of play, despite the Pioneers' big lead in shots (11-to-4). Hockenberger's five saves in the half were instrumental in keeping the contest square. The Manlius, New York, native was aided by a few of her defensive teammates. Julia Derco '17 and Diane LeRoy '19 each posted defensive saves; Derco finished with two and LeRoy had one. The three defensive saves were the second-highest single-game total for the Purple and Gold this season.  
 
SCOUTING THE COLONELS: Wilkes has enjoyed a great deal of success this season and is off to the program's best start since 2009, a season the Colonels went 15-4. The Colonels are 10-7 on the year, but wins have become harder to secure as of late, as Wilkes is 2-4 in its last six contests. During that time, three of Wilkes' losses occurred on the road. However, the Colonels have been extremely hard to beat on their home turf at Schmidt Stadium. Wilkes is 5-1 at home and has outscored its opponents 15-to-6 in those contests. Wilkes is paced on offense by junior forward Marissa Surdy, who leads the team with 31 points on 11 goals and nine assists. In the cage, the Colonels have relied on the efforts of sophomore goalkeeper Dallas Kendra, who has 83 saves on the season and holds a goals-against average of 1.70.     
 
SERIES HISTORY: Today's matchup will mark just the third time that the programs will meet. The Colonels secured close victories in each of the last two seasons. Last year's contest was knotted at two for the first 60 minutes of play, but Wilkes scored a late goal to steal the game away from the Purple and Gold at the Murray Athletic Center. Katie Carroll '18 scored twice in the match, her first two goals of her sophomore season. The previous year's contest was also very close, with Wilkes squeaking out a 5-4 victory at Schmidt Stadium.
 
UP NEXT: The Purple and Gold will conclude the home portion of their schedule when they welcome Ithaca College to the Murray Athletic Center for Class of 2017 Recognition Day on Saturday, October 29th. The match is scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m.