UTICA, NY – The nationally-ranked No. 9 Utica College women's ice hockey team will be hosting Neumann College Friday night at the Utica Memorial Auditorium in the first round of the ECAC Women's West playoffs. The puck is scheduled to drop at 7 p.m. Tickets for the contest are set by the ECAC at $5 – adults and $3 – students. A special $1 ticket promotion for Utica College student's, faculty and staff will be offered at the door with a Utica College ID.

The Pioneers own a 2-0 season series advantage following a weekend sweep of the Knights less than two weeks ago.

UC will be entering the contest with an overall record of 17-8 and a 12-4 record in the ECAC Women's West Conference. Junior Samantha Rowan (Trenton, MI/) and sophomore Andrea Maxon (Canton, NY/Hugh C. Williams) have both tallied 27 points to lead the Pioneers in scoring this season. In 25 games played, Rowan has netted a team-high 14 goals and 13 assists, while Maxon has recorded 12 goals and a team-best 15 assists. Sophomore goalie Jill Doherty (Wellesley, MA/Kents Hill) has an 8-6 record and boasts a 1.75 goal against average in her 14 appearances in route to earning two conference goalie of the week honors.

Neumann comes into Friday's game with a 9-13-3 record overall and a 6-9-1 ECAC Women's West record. They are led by freshman Jessica Schroeder with 26 points, netting 18 goals and eight assists in 24 games played. Freshman goalie Mel Brunet has made 17 starts for the Knights and has compiled a record of 7-9-1 and a 2.57 goal against average.

In their first match up on Feb. 16, three first period goals and stellar play in net by Doherty led to the Pioneers' 4-0 victory. The game saw four different goal scorers, including senior Kelly Bills (Penfield, NY/), Rowan, junior Krystal Cummings (Victor, NY/), and freshman Lynny Gonzales (Rochester, NY/New Hampton Prep). Doherty stopped 17 shots and registered her third shut out of the season.

In the Pioneers second game against the Knights this season, Bills scored a goal and added two assists in her final regular season game to lead UC to a 7-1 win on Feb. 17. Maxon also tallied a goal and two assists as UC out shot Neumann 43-21. Freshman goalie Kelley Peers (Grosse Point, MI/) made 20 saves for the Pioneers in her ninth win of the season.

This will be the first time the women's ice hockey team has hosted an ECAC playoff game in its program-history. The Pioneers will be looking to improve on their 1-6 conference playoff record.

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