Live Stats

Utica, NY – The nationally-ranked No. 9 Utica College men's ice hockey team heads to Neumann University Saturday for the opening round of the ECAC Men's West Conference Tournament. The puck is scheduled to drop at 7:30 p.m. The Pioneers (No. 3 seed) finished the regular season with a program-best 17-7-1 overall record including a 6-5-1 mark in the conference, while the Knights (No. 2 seed) compiled an overall record of 13-7-5 while posting a 7-4-1 record in conference play.

Neumann beat UC all three games this season, outscoring them 13-6 in those contests. Last year, the Pioneers and the Knights were 1-1-1 in the regular season and lost to Neumann in the semi-final game, 3-1, in Aston, PA. Since the 2005-2006 season, the Knights hold a 6-13-2 ledger against UC, with three of those losses coming in the first round of conference tournament play.

The Pioneers are led by junior captain Tim Coffman (Elverson, PA/Laconia (AJHL)), who leads the conference in points (34) and assists (23), and is seventh in goals (11). Utica also has four of the top five freshmen in the conference in points scored: Jon Gaffney (Dover, NJ/Springfield Blues (NAHL)) (22), Trever Hertz (Jaffray, British Columbia/Quesnel Millionaires (BCHL)) (20), Chris Santiago (Langley, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles (BCHL)) (19) and Steve Charest (Amqui, Quebec/Walpole Express (AJHL)) (18).

Freshman goalie Evan Smith (Penticton, British Columbia/Calgary Royals (AJHL)) is 9-3-1 on the season with a .921 save percentage and 1.99 goals against average, which leads the conference.

With a win, the Pioneers would advance to the conference finals. Elmira and Hobart square off Saturday night as well in Elmira, NY. If UC and Elmira win, Utica would travel to the Soaring Eagles home ice for the conference championship. If Utica and Hobart win, the Pioneers would host the championship in Utica, NY.