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Utica, N.Y. (12/28/2011) - The nationally-ranked No. 9 Utica College men's hockey team returns from a 20 day break Friday night to take on No. 3 Castleton State in the first round of the Cardinal Classic hosted by Plattsburgh State at 4 p.m.  The Pioneers have a golden opportunity as they kick off their second half of the season, and two wins over Castleton and No. 5 Plattsburgh or Babson in the finals would certainly position Utica for a jump in the national poll. 

“This is definitely one of the biggest non-conference weekends of the year for us,” said Head Coach Gary Heenan who guided the Pioneers to three straight wins before the holiday break. “Playing well this weekend would be a big confidence boost for us headed into the second half of the season."

The Pioneers First Half: Utica went 8-3 to open up its first half of the season and the Pioneers are currently riding the highs of a three-game non conference winning streak that saw them outscore their opponents 22-3 … UC is 7-0 in non conference play this year but they have struggled in ECAC West play (1-3) and on the road (1-2) … Despite losing three conference games, the Pioneers are still the highest ranked ECAC Men's West Conference team in the latest USCHO.com national poll … Elmira is ranked No. 10 and Neumann is ranked No. 11.

The Cardinal Classic: The first and only time the Pioneers participated in the Cardinal Classic was back in 2004-05 when UC defeated Wesleyan 4-1 in semi-final play before downing host Plattsburgh 2-1 in the finals … Utica has not attended the Cardinals Classic since raising the trophy in 2004-05 and Plattsburgh has won its own tournament five of the last six years.  

Getting to Know Castleton: The Pioneers have only played Castleton once in 11 years … The lone meeting resulted in a 4-4 tie at the Aud on Dec. 12, 2009 … Much like Utica, the Spartans are a young program which began in 2003 … After losing 44 consecutive games from 2003-2005, Castleton has experienced great success as of late, winning an incredible 22 games last season and narrowly missing an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament … The Spartans are currently regarded as one of the nations tops teams after opening the season with a 10-1 record … Their only loss of the season came at the hands of No. 1 Norwich University by a narrow margin of 3-2. 

Getting to know the Host – Plattsburgh: The only time the Pioneers ever played Plattsburgh was when they won the Cardinal Classic on Dec. 31, 2004 … Plattsburgh is consistently one of the top ten teams in the country and the Cardinals have made four consecuitve appearences in the NCAA Tournament … Plattsburgh is currently 6-2-3 overall and they are coming off of ties against No. 2 Oswego and No. 1 Norwich in early December. 

Coffman Leads the Way: Senior captain Tim Coffman (Elverson, PA/Laconia (AJHL)) boasts an eight game scoring streak and he has scored at least one point in nine of 11 games this year … He currently leads the team with 18 points (six goals, 12 assists) and he recently tied the school-record for assists in a career with 71 … He needs one assist to break All-American and Pioneer Hall of Famer Jimmy Sokol's all-time assists record … Coffman also need seven points to break Sokol's all-time scoring record and six goals to break the school-record for goals in a career. 

Hertz Scores in Bunches: Sophomore forward Trever Hertz (Jaffray, British Columbia/Quesnel Millionaires (BCHL)) ranks second on the team with 17 points … He leads the Pioneers with eight goals … Hertz has scored two or more points in seven games this year including three games where he scored three points. 

Mr. Consistency: Junior assistant captain Evan Chlanda (Islip, NY/Springfield (EJHL)) has seven goals and seven assists this season, good for third on the team with 14 points … He ranks second on the team with four points in conference play … He is the only player on the team to have scored at least one point in every game so far this season. 

Honored: Sophomore goalie Nick Therrien (Rochester, NH/NY Apple Core (EJHL)) was recently named the ECAC Men's West Goalie of the Week after stopping 30 shots in the Pioneers' 1-0 win over Potsdam … He ranks fifth nationally with a save percentage of .933 and sixth nationally with a 1.84 goals against average … He is one of just three goalies in the country without a loss on his record. 

It's a Team Effort:  As a team the Pioneers rank sixth nationally in scoring offense with an average of 4.82 goals per game … They also rank sixth in the nation in scoring margin as they have outscored their opponents by an average of 2.55 goals per game … Utica's penalty kill unit ranks fourth nationally at 92.0% (46-of-50). 

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