Gaffney recorded six points last weekend as he led UC to back-to-back wins at the friendly confines of the Utica Memorial Auditorium.
Utica, N.Y. (1/11/2012) – The nationally-ranked No. 10 Utica College men's hockey team will face another big test on the road at No. 2 Oswego State Saturday night. The puck is scheduled to drop at 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live locally on WTLB 1310 AM – ESPN Radio.
UC Through 15 Games: The Pioneers are currently 11-4 overall and 1-3 in ECAC Men's West Conference play … UC is riding the highs of a three game winning streak after downing Babson, Cortland and Curry in consecutive contests … Utica longest winning streak of the season is three games, a feat they have accomplished on three different occasions … They will look to extend their win streak to four games for the first time this season on Saturday night against the Lakers.
All-Time Against Oswego: UC has played Oswego 15 times over the course of the last 11 years and the Lakers hold a 10-4-1 all-time series advantage … The Pioneers have played Oswego more times than any other non-conference opponent in program-history … The Pioneers had lost four straight meetings against Oswego until they defeated the Lakers 3-2 at the Aud earlier this year (Oct. 29, 2011).
Meet the Lakers: Oswego is currently 10-2-2 overall and 6-0-2 in SUNYAC Conference play … The Lakers will take on Curry College at home on Friday night before hosting the Pioneers on Saturday … They are coming off their most decisive loss of the season - a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Neumann University last Friday … Before the loss to Neumann, the Lakers were enjoying a nine game streak without a loss … Junior forward Paul Rodriguez leads the team with 19 points (five goals/14 assists) … Junior Jon Whitelaw has tallied 18 points and he is tied for the team-lead with seven goals … Junior net minder Andrew Hare is the expected starter between the pipes for Oswego after posting a 9-2-2 overall record and a 1.88 goals against average in 13 games this year.
UC vs. Oswego - Meeting #1: UC made a huge statement on a big stage in their first meeting against Oswego, defeating the second-ranked Lakers 3-2 in front of 3,499 fans at the Aud ... The Pioneers outscored the visitors 2-0 in the second period and jumped out to a 3-1 lead headed into the final stanza ... UC showed great poise under pressure, as they committed just three penalties all night, and sophomore goalie
Nick Therrien (Rochester, NH/NY Apple Core (EJHL)) stopped 26 shots to help Utica preserve its third period lead.
Utica Last Time Out: The Pioneers poured it on in the second period, outscoring visiting Curry College 4-1 in the 20 minute span, to earn a 7-3 non-conference victory in front of 2,970 fans at the Utica Memorial Auditorium last Saturday night ... Six of the Pioneers seven goals were scored by the sophomore class in the four goal victory.
Hertz Honored: Sophomore forward
Trever Hertz (Jaffray, British Columbia/Quesnel Millionaires (BCHL)) was named the ECAC Men's West Conference Player of the Week after posting eight points in three straight victories for the Pioneers … He currently leads UC with 25 points through 15 games … He is tied for ninth in the nation with an average of 1.67 points per contest and his 25 total points (10 goals/15 assists) ranks third in the nation … Scoring has come in bunches for Hertz so far this season … He has registered five games with three or more points and nine total multi-point outings.
Gaffney Named UCAOW: Sophomore
Jon Gaffney (Dover, NJ/Springfield Blues (NAHL)) was named the College's Male Athlete of the Week for the week ending Jan. 8 ... Gaffney recorded six points over the weekend as he led UC to back-to-back wins at the Aud ... On Friday, he set-up teammate
Chris Santiago (Langley, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles (BCHL)) just 1:42 into the contest to give UC a 1-0 lead and then cushioned the squad a little over seven minutes later with a 2-0 lead at 7:46 ... The sophomore forward capped off the night with an empty-netter at 18:29 to seal the 5-2 victory ... He added a team-high three assists in the Pioneers 7-5 win over Curry on Saturday.
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