UC Will Host Castleton Wednesday in NCAA First Round Matchup
NCAA Interactive Bracket
The Utica College field hockey team will host North Atlantic Conference Champion Castleton State (14-6) Wednesday in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament. Game time is to be determined. The hosting right marks the second consecutive season the Pioneers will host an NCAA Tournament contest at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium. Last season UC defeated Endicott College in a first round match up by the score of 4-1.
Castleton and UC had two common opponents this season. Both teams played against Skidmore College and RPI. UC lost to Skidmore 2-1 in overtime, while Castleton lost to Skidmore 5-2. The Pioneers defeated RPI 2-0, while the Spartans lost to RPI 1-0 in overtime.
The Pioneers (16-4) earned an automatic bid into the NCAA's after winning their second straight Empire 8 Conference Championship on Sunday against St. John Fisher College, 5-2.
UC has outscored its opponents 74-24 this season, while out shooting opponents 252-133. UC is currently 6-2 at the friendly confines of Charles A. Gaetano Stadium. The Pioneers have won eight of their last nine contests, with their most recent loss coming at the hands of Oneonta State, 4-3, in overtime.
The Pioneers, who are making their third NCAA appearance in program-history, will be led into the tournament by the junior trio of
Hannah Mackey (Locke, NY/Moravia Central),
Louise Steele-Norton (Avondale, PA/Millbrook School) and
Alaina Stojkovski (Liverpool, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse). Mackey currently leads the Pioneers with 44 points (18 goals, eight assists). Steele-Norton, the 2012 Empire 8 Conference Player of the Year, has 38 points this season on 17 goals and four assists. Stojkovski, a midfielder, has 28 points this year on 11 goals and six assists.
UC sophomore goalie
Kells Casey (Sandwich, MA/Kimball Union Academy) has an Empire 8 Conference best 1.12 goals against average to go along with seven shut outs. She has totaled 103 saves so far this season.
Castleton will be led by senior Rachel Preusser who has 77 points this season. Preusser finished the regular season ranked second in the country in points per game. As of Nov. 3rd Castleton ranked eighth in the country with an average of 4.37 goals per game.