UTICA CITY LOOKS TO COOL THE HEAT

Today’s Game: Utica City takes on the Harrisburg Heat for the first time this season. Kickoff is at 3 p.m.

Last Game: Utica City spoiled the Rochester Lancer’s return to the MASL with a dominating 9-1 win Friday night at the ROC Dome Arena. Moises Gonzalez scored four goals, while Uroš Momić scored twice and Cristhian Segura, Bo Jelovac, and Ricardo Diegues all chipped in with one goal each. Andrew Coughlin made 12 saves on 13 shots in the win. 

Head to Head: This is the first contest between the two sides this season. Utica won last year’s season series 5-1, outscoring the Heat 46-30 in six games, including scoring 10 goals on two separate occasions. 

Scouting the Heat: Harrisburg comes in with a record of 2-0 and is tied for first place in the Eastern Conference. They most recently beat the Rochester Lancers 7-1 last night. Dominic Francis leads the offense with seven points, followed by JerJer Gibson with six points. William Banahene is the top goalkeeper with a record of 1-0, a 2.00 goals-against average, and a .864 save percentage. 

Heating Up: Moises Gonzalez is starting to catch fire on offense. Gonzalez posted four goals and an assist last Friday against Rochester and has points in two of the three games he’s played in this season. Overall, Moi has six points (4-2-6) in three games this season. 

Brick Wall: Andrew Coughlin has been lights out in goal to start the season. After surrendering seven goals in the first game, Coughlin locked it down, conceding three goals combined in the past two games, making 16 straight saves to close out last Friday’s game. Coughlin has a record of 2-1 with a 3.36 goals-against average and a .786 save percentage so far this year.

Streaking: Cristhian Segura is off to an electric start this season. Segura is riding a three-game point streak into today’s game, with all three of his games being multi-point efforts. He has also scored two or more goals in two of his three games this year. Overall, the midfielder has eight points (6-2-8) in three games this season.

Power Outage: Utica’s power play is off to a slow start this season. Through three games, City has yet to convert on a power play opportunity. On the bright side, Utica has only had three chances on the man advantage to start the season, so there is still room for improvement. Keep an eye out for this unit to turn things around after finishing last season fourth in the league with a 52.5% conversion rate. 

Next Game: Utica City is back in action Saturday, December 14 on the road against the Baltimore Blast. Kickoff at SECU Arena is at 7:05 p.m. The game can be viewed on MASL.tv.