UTICA LOOKS TO AVENGE FRIDAY'S LOSS TO ST. LOUIS

Today’s Game: Utica City FC finishes up their weekend series against the St. Louis Ambush. Kickoff is at 4:05 p.m.

Last Game: Utica City surrendered a 5-1 lead before falling 7-6 in a shootout to the St. Louis Ambush Friday night at The Family Arena. Ricardo Diegues, Momo, Ben Ramin, Bo Jelovac, Moises Gonzalez scored for Utica. Matt Perrella got the start in net, making 37 saves.

Head to Head: This is the second of three meetings between Utica and St. Louis this season. The Ambush came from behind to beat Utica in the last meeting, evening the all-time series at one game apiece.

Scouting the Ambush: St. Louis comes in with a record of 5-5 and sits in sixth place in the Eastern Division. Tony Walls is the leading scorer with 17 points, followed by Duduca Carvalho and JT Thomas with 15 points each. Paulo Nascimento is the top goalkeeper with a record of 5-3, a 6.02 goals-against average, and a .717 save percentage.

Moi, Moi, Moi: Moises Gonzalez has been on a roll on offense. Gonzalez is riding a four-game point streak into today’s game, picking up six points (3-3-6) in those games. He also has three multi-point games this season already. Overall, the forward has 13 points (7-6-13) in nine games this year.

Nasty Nate: Nate Bourdeau is starting to pick up steam. Bourdeau has points in three straight games, including two straight multi-point games where he’s picked up a total of five points (2-3-5). Overall, the midfielder has 10 points (3-7-10) in nine games this season.

Spreading the Wealth: Part of Utica’s success this season can be attributed to their ability to get offense from all throughout the lineup. Through nine games, seven different players have five or more points, while six of those seven have 10 points or more. City also has two players (Cristhian Segura and Ricardo Diegues) have 10 or more goals so far this season.

Road Warrior: Bo Jelovac has played extremely well on the road this season. Jelovac has points in three of his last four road games this season, while all three of those games being multi-point efforts. He has picked up a total of seven points (3-4-7) in those games. Overall, the captain has 11 points (4-7-11) in nine games. 

Next Game: Utica City is back in action on Friday, January 31 when they host the Ambush. Kickoff at the Adirondack Bank Center is at 7 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 be viewed on MASL.tv.