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Utica, NY (11-3-11) – The Utica College women's hockey team heads to Rochester, NY this weekend for a two-game set against nationally-ranked No. 2 Rochester Institute of Technology on Saturday and Sunday.  The games will be held at the Ritter Arena with the puck scheduled to drop at 3 p.m. both days.

Time Warner Cable: For those of you in the Rochester area, make sure to check your local listings because both of this weekend's games at RIT will be televised on Time Warner Cable Sports. 

The Match-Up:  The Pioneers are currently 2-0 overall after coming off a season-opening, weekend sweep of New England and Castleton State.  UC beat NEC on Friday, Oct. 28, 3-2, at the Utica Memorial Auditorium and followed that up with a 2-0 shut-out on Saturday against the Spartans of Castleton State.  The Tigers are also 2-0 after defeating nationally-ranked Manhattanville and defending national champion Norwich University at the Norwich Classic in Northfield, VT.  RIT beat Manhattanville 6-3 on Friday, Oct. 28 and downed host Norwich 4-1 on Saturday.

All-Time Against the Tigers:  RIT holds a 7-1 advantage over UC in heads-up play since joining the conference in 2007. The Tigers swept UC in a weekend set last season by scores of 5-2 and 4-1 at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.  UC's lone win came back on Feb. 2, 2007 at Ritter Arena in Rochester, NY, 5-4.

The Vegas Show:  Sophomore Megan Myers (Las Vegas, NV/LA Selects) returns to the front line for Utica after an impressive freshman campaign.  The Las Vegas native led the team last season with 33 points on 21 goals and 12 assists as she finished second in the conference in goals scored.  Myers earned herself a spot on the All-Rookie Team along with second-team All-ECAC West honors.  In her first collegiate game, she posted four points, including a hat-trick and finished the year with 11 points in the last six games.

UC Up Front: Assisting Myers at the forward position are sophomores Brittany Dellechiaie and Meredith Tice (Hershey, PA/Washington Pride).  So far all five Pioneer goals have come at the hands of this trio with Myers and Dellechiaie netting two and Tice recording the game-winner against Castleton St.  Last season these three totaled 47 of the 214 Utica points. 

Roy Roaring: Senior captain MacKenzie Roy (Concord, NH/Cushing Academy) returns for her senior season as she looks to lead the UC defense.  Last season, Roy finished third in the ECAC West in defenseman scoring with 20 points on eight goals and 12 assists.  Four of her eight goals came on the Utica power-play along with one game-winner.

The Defensive Unit: Last season, the Pioneers held opponents to 64 goals throughout their 27 game schedule, while shutting down the power-play 109-of-136 times for a kill percentage of .801.  So far this season, UC has blanked 10-of-11 power-plays, while allowing just two goals in their first two contests. 

The H-Factor(s):  Senior Marissa Hotaling (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) and sophomore Jennifer Hamel (Ithaca, NY/Northwood School) are currently splitting time in net for the Pioneers.  Hamel will get the start on Saturday afternoon while Hotaling will guard the net on Sunday.  In the season opener, Hotaling stopped 35 shots as UC took home a 3-2 victory.  On Saturday Hamel recorded her second career shutout while tallying 10 saves as UC moved to 2-0. Last season, Hotaling had an overall record of 7-11 in 20 games played while Hamel posted a 5-2 mark prior to going down with a season-ending injury.

Back on the Ice: Following this weekend, the Pioneers return to the ice next Friday, Nov. 11 as they square off against Oswego St. in a home-and-home series.  Friday's game will be held at The Utica Memorial Auditorium with an expected start time of 4 p.m.  Saturday's contest will be held at Ritter Arena in Rochester, NY and is scheduled to start at 3 p.m.