Live Audio

Live Video

Utica, NY (11-15-11) – The Utica College women's hockey team travels to Elmira this weekend for back-to-back ECAC Women's West contests against the nationally-ranked No. 8 Soaring Eagles.  The puck is set to drop at 7 p.m. on Friday and 3 p.m. on Saturday.

The Match-Up:  UC is currently 3-3 overall including a 1-3 mark in ECAC West play, while EC holds an overall record of 3-1 and is undefeated in the conference at 2-0 … Elmira has scored 17 goals in conference action, while allowing just two, and the Soaring Eagles have outscored opponents 26-9 on the season … Utica has scored 12 goals this season, while allowing 21, however the Pioneers have maintained a .500 record thus far. 

Last Time Out:  The Pioneers are coming off a weekend split with Oswego State where they lost Friday at home, 3-2 in overtime, and followed the heartbreaking loss up with a 3-1 win on Saturday in Oswego, NY.

UC vs. EC: Since the 2005-06 season, Elmira holds a 10-4-1 record against Utica including seven straight regular season victories … Two of UC's four wins against EC came in the first round of the conference tournament with the most recent coming by way of a 2-1 victory at Elmira last season on Feb. 26 … The Pioneers last regular season win against the Soaring Eagles came back on Jan. 27, 2008 by a score of 3-2 … The Soaring Eagles have outscored Utica 48-21 in those 16 contests with six wins coming in shut out fashion.

Clausen Reaches 150: Head Coach Dave Clausen picked up his 150th career win Saturday as the Pioneers downed Oswego 3-1 … Clausen has been at UC since the program's inception in 2000 … Over the course of his career, Clausen has led the team to nine winning seasons, 10 straight conference tournament appearances, and he has coached three All-Americans … The Pioneers have made it to at least the semifinals of the ECAC West Conference tournament in nine of his ten seasons …  Clausen has three seasons with 18 wins against some of the toughest opponents in the country. 

Class of 2014: Four sophomores including Megan Myers (Las Vegas, NV/LA Selects), Brittany DelleChiaie (Leominster, MA/The Winchendon School), Vanessa Maines (Boxborough, MA/Boston Jr. Shamrocks) and Meredith Tice (Hershey, PA/Washington Pride) have combined for eight of Utica's 12 goals this season … Leading the way is Myers and DelleChiaie with three scores apiece followed by Maines and Tice with one each … Myers leads the squad with eight points including five assists and two game-winners … DelleChiaie is second on the team with four points including two power-play goals … Maines' goal came as UC's only score against No. 1 RIT on Nov. 6 while Tice put home the game-winner on Oct. 29 to give the Pioneers their second win of the season.

Between the Pipes: Senior Marissa Hotaling (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) and sophomore Jennifer Hamel (Ithaca, NY/Northwood School) are presently splitting time in net for UC … Hotaling has an overall record of 1-2 and a goals against average of 3.20, while Hamel is 2-1 with a GAA of 2.67 … The two-headed monster features very similar save percentages with Hamel recording a .929 compared to Hotaling's .926.

Around the League:  Three teams from the ECAC Women's West Conference are nationally-ranked in the top ten in the USCHO.com poll released Monday … No. 1 RIT (4-0 ECAC West, 6-0) is second in the conference standings behind No. 4 Plattsburgh (4-0-1 ECAC West, 4-0-1) by a mere point … Oswego State (2-1-1 ECAC, 2-3-1) occupies third place after UC handed the Lakers their first loss in conference play on Sunday … No. 8 Elmira (2-0 ECAC West, 3-1) and Neumann University (1-1-2 ECAC West, 1-1-2) are tied in fourth place with four points each … Buffalo State (1-2-1 ECAC, 2-3-1) has three points and holds sixth place solely, while Utica (1-3 ECAC West, 3-3) and Potsdam (1-4 ECAC West, 1-4) share seventh … In ninth place sits Cortland (0-3-1 ECAC West, 2-3-1) with one conference point followed by Chatham (0-2 ECAC West, 0-2) in tenth.

Pioneers Back on the Ice: Following this weekend, Utica returns to the ice Sunday, Nov. 27 as they head to Williamstown, MA for a non-conference match against Williams College … The Ephs open up their season this weekend as they face Wesleyan (Conn.) in a two-game set … Last season, UC beat Williams twice by scores of 3-1 and 4-1.

                                                                                     ---www.ucpioneers.com---