UTICA CITY HOSTS HEAT AFTER DARK

Tonight’s Game: Utica City hosts the Harrisburg Heat in the first of four home night games this season. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Expect a fiery matchup after the ending of the last contest between these two sides.

Last Game: Ben Ramin scored 5:48 into overtime to give Utica City FC a 7-6 victory against the Baltimore Blast Saturday night at the SECU Arena. Ricardo Diegues scored four goals for Utica, while Nate Bourdeau and Cristhian Segura also chipped in with goals. Andrew Coughlin made 14 saves on 20 shots in the win.

Head to Head: This is the second matchup between the Eastern Division rivals this season. Utica won the first game 4-3 back on December 8. City is 6-1 all-time against Harrisburg.

Scouting the Heat: Harrisburg comes in with a record of 4-1 and sits in third place in the Eastern Division. They most recently defeated the Rochester Lancers 10-5 last night. Dominic Francis leads the offense with 14 points, followed by JerJer Gibson with 8 points. Jesus Molina is the top goalkeeper with a record of 2-1, a 3.60 goals-against average, and a .679 save percentage.

Ricar-goal: Ricardo Diegues has been on a tear to start this season. Diegues has scored in every game he has played in, including a four-goal effort against the Blast two weeks ago. Overall, the forward has nine points (8-1-9) in four games this season.

Breaking Out: Cristhian Segura is becoming a star for Utica City. Segura has already topped his goal total from last season and is two points shy of tying his point total from last year as well. He has also recorded three multi-point games already this season. The midfielder has nine points (7-2-9) in five games.

Settling In: Onua Obasi is settling into his role with Utica and the results are already paying off. Obasi has recorded at least one point in every game he has appeared in. He has been strong on both sides of the ball, putting 11 shots on goal and breaking up a number of plays on defense. The defender has three points (1-2-3) in three games this year. 

Earthquake Jake: Jake Schindler is having a stellar season on Utica’s backline. Schindler has recorded at least a point in back-to-back games and has also broken up a number of opposing scoring chances. He is also already three goals and four assists shy of matching his goal and assist total from last season. The defender has four points (2-2-4) in five games this year.

Next Game: Utica goes right back at it tomorrow afternoon when they host the Baltimore Blast. Kickoff 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.