UTICA BATTLES MISSISSAUGA IN ST. PATRICK'S DAY SHOWDOWN

Today’s Game: Utica City takes on the Mississauga MetroStars. A special green-jersey clad match at the Adirondack Bank Center starts at 2 p.m.

Last Game: Utica City used a five-goal fourth quarter to beat the Harrisburg Heat 10-2 Sunday afternoon at the Adirondack Bank Center. Slav Ubiparipovic netted a hat trick, Logan Roberts scored twice, while Mauricio Salles, Freddy Moojen, Nate Bourdeau, Joey Tavernese and Liam Callahan all chipped in with one goal apiece. Andrew Coughlin made 11 saves on 13 shots in the win.

Head To Head: This is the third meeting between Utica and Mississauga this season. City leads the season series 3-0 and won the most recent matchup 8-4 back on February 22. Utica has outscored the MetroStars 26-13 through three games.

Scouting the MetroStars: Mississauga comes into today’s game with a record of 3-15 and sits in last place in the Eastern Division. They most recently fell to the Harrisburg Heat 8-4 last Saturday. Molham Babouli leads the offense with 27 points, followed by Damion Graham with 23 points. Adrian Becic is the leading goalkeeper with a record of 3-9, a 7.43 goals-against average, and a .632 save percentage.

High Powered: A big reason behind Utica’s success this season can be attributed to their ability to score, a lot. City is averaging 7.2 goals per game and has scored 10 or more goals in a game on four separate occasions. They have scored a total of 129 goals this season, which ranks second in the league.

Rolling: Logan Roberts’ breakout season continues. Roberts has nine points (8-1-9) in his last six games, including three multi-point games. He also has the second-highest shootout percentage on the team, scoring on 45.5% of his shots. The second-year defender has 11 points (10-1-11) in 18 games this season.

Multi-Point Master: Slav Ubiparipovic has been on an absolute tear this season. Ubiparipovic has tallied 12 multi-point games this season, including three games with four or more points. He also has two hat tricks this season. Slav leads Utica City’s offense with 40 points (19-21-40) in 18 games this year.

Bounce Back: Nate Bourdeau had a solid bounce back game this past Sunday. Bourdeau shed a two-game pointless skid in style, recording a goal and an assist off of a slick back-heel pass. He has also already tied his total assists from last season. The midfielder has 17 points (7-10-17) in 18 games this season.

Next Game: Utica City FC returns to action Friday night for a road rematch with MetroStars. Kickoff at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre is at 2 p.m. The game can be viewed on MASL.tv.