UTICA CITY RETUNS HOME SUNDAY

QUICK LOOK: 

Utica City FC (2-4) hosts the Baltimore Blast (3-1) in the teams’ second meeting of the 2021-22 slate. UCFC comes off a road trip where they dropped two games to the Florida Tropics, while Baltimore lost to Dallas on Friday night 5-4.

SINCE THEY'VE BEEN GONE: UCFC spent the last two weeks in Lakeland, Florida. They were challenged by one of the best teams in the MASL and took back-to-back losses. Notable for Utica City was the return of Onua Obasi to game action. He suffered a lower body injury in the preseason but returned to the field January 2nd. Last Sunday, The teams were knotted up at two at halftime, but UCFC fell 6-2 to round out the road trip.

BLAST FROM THE PAST: In their second test of the season, Utica City FC fell to the Baltimore Blast 7-3. UCFC led 3-1 in the second quarter, but 5 unanswered goals sealed the deal for the Blast in route to their second win of the year. Utica City outshot the blast 34-22, and Moises Gonzalez earned first star of the game with a three point night (2 G, 1 A). Nate Bourdeau was second on the team with 7 shots on goal. Goalkeeper Andrew Coughlin made 9 saves on 15 shots.

GOOD MORNING BALTIMORE: Baltimore will play in just their second road game this season. Lucas Roque leads the Blast with 8 goals and 11 points. In net, William Vanzela has led the way with a 4.48 GAA and .719 SV%. Against Utica City, Jonatas Melo scored one goal and had an assist.

LOOK AHEAD: After Sunday’s game, UCFC will prepare for a two game weekend. First they will meet the Milwaukee Wave on the road. Milwaukee has started the year 0-4 and is at the bottom of the Central division with a -11 goal differential. After that, Utica City returns home for a date with the Ontario Fury. Sunday, January 23rd will be Ted Lasso Day at the Adirondack Bank Center