UTICA CITY HOSTS BALTIMORE IN HOME OPENER

Today’s Game: Utica City FC opens up the home portion of their schedule against the Baltimore Blast. Kickoff is at 2 p.m.

Last Game: Utica City FC dropped their season-opener 8-7 to the Baltimore Blast Friday night at SECU Arena. Christian Segura led the way on offense with a hat trick, while Bo Jelovac, Uroš Momić, Logan Roberts, and Jake Schindler also scored for Utica. Andrew Coughlin made 14 saves in goal.

Head to Head: This will be the second of four matchups against the Blast this season. Baltimore took the first matchup 8-7 Friday night. Utica is 3-4 in the last two seasons against Baltimore.

Scouting the Blast: Baltimore is 1-0 coming into today’s matchup after winning Friday’s contest against Utica. Juan Pereira and Daniel Peruzzi pace the team offensively with four point apiece. William Vanzela is the top goalkeeper with a record of 1-0, a 7.00 goals-against average and a .650 save percentage. 

Home Sweet Home: Utica City dominated at home last season and will look to continue that again this year. City went 9-3 at home season with two separate four-game winning streaks. Utica outscored opponents 85-58 and scored 10 or more goals on four different occasions.

Good Impression: Christian Segura made a great first impression with Utica fans. Segura netted three goals on three shots in his Utica City debut. Banano finished with 11 points (6-5-11) in 15 games with the San Diego Sockers last season.

Right Where He Left Off: Jake Schindler picked up right where he left off last season. Schindler recorded a goal and an assist Friday night and now has nine points (5-4-9) in his last five games dating back to last season. The Schin-Unit tallied 11 points (5-6-11) in 16 games with Utica last year. 

First of Many: Uroš Momić’s arena soccer career is off to a fantastic start. Momo scored his first career goal Friday night and created a number of chances offensively as well. Keep an eye on Momo moving forward.

Next Game: Utica City is back in action Friday night when they hit the road to battle the Rochester Lancers. Kickoff at the ROC Dome Arena is at 7:05 p.m. The game can be viewed on MASL.tv.