UTICA CITY BEGINS HOME-AND-HOME SET WITH ROCHESTER

Tonight’s Game: Utica City FC remains on the road against the Rochester Lancers in the first leg of a home-and-home weekend. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

Last Game: Andrew Coughlin's second-half relief appearance sparked Utica City's 8-7 come from behind victory in a shootout over the Dallas Sidekicks on Friday night at the Allen Event Center. Coughlin made five saves and stopped all three shootout attempts en route to the victory. Moises Gonzalez led the way with three goals, while Jake Schindler scored twice, and Liam Callahan and Bo Jelovac chipped in with a goal apiece. Matt Perrella got the start in goal, making four saves before being replaced by Coughlin.

Head to Head: This is the third meeting between Utica and Rochester this season. Utica leads the season series 2-0 and won the most recent match 11-3 back on February 9. City has outscored the Lancers 20-4 through two games.

Scouting the Lancers: Rochester comes in with a record of 0-16 and sits in last place in the Eastern Division. They most recently fell to the Florida Tropics 14-3 last Saturday. Anthony Rozzano paces the offense with 12 points, followed by Michael Cunningham with 11 points. Brian Wilkin is the leading goalkeeper with a record of 0-9, a 10.45 goals-against average, and .580 save percentage. 

White Hot: Bo Jelovac is on his way to another career season. Jelovac sits four points back of tying his point total from last season. He also has three consecutive multi-point games and 18 points (9-9-18) in his last six games. The captain has 28 points (12-16-28) in 14 games this year. 

Top Gun: Moises Gonzalez continues to pile up points. Gonzalez has six goals and nine points in his last three games, including a hat trick against Dallas and a four-point game against Mesquite last week. He also has seven multi-point efforts this season. The forward is second on the team with 25 points (15-10-25) in 14 games.

Wall of Steel: Andrew Coughlin has been a steel wall in net for Utica. Coughlin has won three consecutive starts, only allowing 11 goals during that stretch. He also ranks third in the league in wins and goals-against average and is tied for fifth in save percentage. The goalkeeper holds a record of 10-1-1 with a 4.28 goals-against average and .704 save percentage. 

Leading from the Back: Jake Schindler may be a defender, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t put up points. Schindler has four points (3-1-4) in his last two games, including the game-tying goal against Dallas last Friday. The defender has 15 points (9-6-15) in 14 games this season. 

Next Game: Utica City is back in action Sunday in a rematch against the Lancers. Kickoff at the Adirondack Bank Center is at 2 p.m. Tickets are still available at the Box Office, over the phone by calling (315) 790-9070, or online at www.empirestatetix.com.The game can be viewed on MASL.tv.