UC opens is 2012-13 season against Morrisville at 7 p.m. on Friday night
Utica, NY (10/18/12) – The Utica College men's hockey team opens up its 2012-13 campaign on Friday night at the Utica Memorial Auditorium against Morrisville State at 7 p.m. The meeting between the two program's marks the first in either school's history.
Hot On Opening Day: The Pioneers have not lost a season-opening match up in six years and they have two straight season opening wins at home against Brockport State … Utica is 4-5-2 all-time in season openers, including a 3-0-2 record in the last five years … The Pioneers last four season-openers have been played at the Aud … Six of their 11 season openers have been played at the Aud.
Heenan Enters His 12th Year: Head Coach
Gary Heenan is the Pioneers only head coach in the program's 11 history … Heenan holds an overall record of 144-113-23 for a winning percentage of .554 … UC has registered two consecutive winnings season, posting a 32-17-3 record over the course of those two years … The Pioneers have also been a fixture in the nation's top 15, finishing just outside the top 15 in the receiving votes category, at the end of last year.
Home Sweet Home: The Pioneers are 23-6-3 in the last two years at the friendly confines of the Utica Memorial Auditorium … Last year the Pioneer faithful led the nation in home attendance for the sixth consecutive season with an average of 3,253 fans passing through the doors per contest … The Aud averaged an attendance of 81.3% to capacity (building holds 4,000).
Thank You Season Ticket Holders: Utica College would like to extend a special thank you to the 2,000+ fans who hold season tickets for the upcoming year … The College appreciates the support given to the hockey program and thanks everyone for their patience and understanding throughout the implementation of the new seating policy … The fan support has certainly made the Aud the best venue in all of Division III hockey.
AmeriCU's I Heat Hockey Night: On Saturday the Pioneers will take on visiting Fredonia State and the contest will be a part of the
AmeriCU I Heart Hockey Night … The Pioneers will wear collector's edition “Heart” jerseys in its game against Fredonia … The puck is scheduled to drop at 7 p.m. … The jerseys are currently being auctioned (
CLICK HERE) ... You can bid on a jersey by sending an e-mail to men's hockey assistant Alex Dawes (amdawes@utica.edu), with your name, address and amount you would like to bid … Fans can also bid on the Heart jerseys on the day of the game beginning at 6 p.m. … All proceeds will benefit the American Heart Association.
Last Year: The Pioneers finished the season with a 15-9-2 record, good enough for a fourth place regular season finish in arguably the nation's toughest conference … In their final game of the year the Pioneers faced off against ECAC Men's West Conference rival Neumann University at the Aud, and they had the Knights on the ropes all game before falling in overtime by a score of 4-3.
Chlanda Named Captain – Back For Senior Season: Evan Chlanda (Islip, NY/Springfield (EJHL)) returns to the ice for his senior campaign after leading the Pioneers with 34 points on 16 goals and 18 assists one year ago … Over the course of three seasons Chlanda has played in 71 career games and he has 74 total points, which ranks third on the College's all-time scoring list … He is an extremely well-balanced offensive player, having totaled 38 goals and 36 assists over the course of his career … He is the Pioneers active scoring leader after the graduation of All-American
Tim Coffman (Elverson, PA/Laconia (AJHL)) last Spring … Chlanda needs 22 goals this season to tie Coffman and Jimmy Sokol '05 for the College's all-time lead (58).
Experience is Key on “D”: The Pioneers defensive unit is comprised of three seniors, three juniors, one sophomore and one freshman … Seniors
Robert Etts (Smithtown, NY/Hitmen (EJHL)),
Josh Schmitt (Buffalo, NY/Buffalo (OPJHL)), and
Cody Adams (Duncan, British Columbia/Plattsburgh (SUNYAC)) have all played four seasons of collegiate hockey, while juniors
Mike Slowikowski (Ewing, NJ/N.J. Hitmen (EJHL)),
Doug Marshall (Garnett Valley, PA/N.J. Hitmen (EJHL)) and
Steve Zappia (Buffalo, NY/Buffalo Jr. Sabres (OJAHL)) provide great talent entering their third season … This group helped the Pioneer goalies combine for a 2.82 goals against average last season … Slowikowski, a 6-foot-6 defender from Ewing, N.J., led all Utica defensemen with five goals and he also chipped in with seven assists for a total of 12 points on his way to earning All-Conference accolades last year ... Etts enters the year with a wealth of experience and he currently ranks second on the team with 67 career games played …
Cody Adams (Duncan, British Columbia/Plattsburgh (SUNYAC)) played in all 26 games last year after transferring in from Plattsburgh … Zappia led all defensemen with 14 points in 26 games … Sophomore
Mike Baird (Oakville, Ontario/Huntsville (OJHL)) enters his second year with the Pioneers after playing in 15 games as a freshman.
Junior Class is Frightening: The Pioneers return ten junior forwards to this year's roster … Three of them,
Trever Hertz (Jaffray, British Columbia/Quesnel Millionaires (BCHL)), assistant captain
Jon Gaffney (Dover, NJ/Springfield Blues (NAHL)) and
Adam Graff (Bear, DE/Syracuse Stars (EJHL)) ranked third, fourth and fifth on the team in scoring last year … Hertz has 51 craeer points, while Gaffney trails close behind with 46 … Graff turned it up last year and registered 17 points on six goals and 11 assists … Watch out for New Hartford native
Rob Morton (New Hartford, NY/Merrimack (Hockey East)), who registered 12 points last season and still has one year of eligibility left, despite his senior status in the classroom …
Steve Charest (Amqui, Quebec/Walpole Express (AJHL)),
Ridge Garbutt (Toronto, Ontario/Brewster Academy (NH)),
Chris Santiago (Langley, British Columbia/Surrey Eagles (BCHL)),
Jordan Hobaica (Clinton, NY/Northwood School),
George Lotito (Staten Island, NY/NH Jr. Monarchs (EJHL)) and
Lou Malvasi (Lincroft, NJ/Walpole Express (AJHL)) all add crucial depth to the Pioneers' scoring attack.
Forwards to Watch: Senior
Eric Peterson (Newton, NH/Valley (EJHL)) has played in 55 career games for UC and he has 29 points (14 goals, 15 assists) … Sophomore's
Peter LaFosse (Merrimack, NH/Kimball Union Academy) and
Justin Hogan (Val Therese, Ontario/Brooks Bandits (AJHL)) will also look to break out after posting solid freshman campaigns … Hogan finished the year with 22 games played and 11 ponts, while LaFosse added six points in 17 games.
Therrien Returns Between the Pipes: Junior goalie
Nick Therrien (Rochester, NH/NY Apple Core (EJHL)) returns for his junior campaign after posting a 6-3 record one year ago … He has 14 career victories and a 2.57 goals against average to go along with three shut outs in 29 games played … He will be pushed by sophomore
Mike Taffe (Maple Grove, MN/Amarillo (NAHL)) who played for one season at the University of Nebraska-Omaha in 2010-11 and freshman
Gordon Ceasar (Oak Park, CA/Rochester (EJHL)) who won 11 games with the Rochester Stars of the EJHL last season.
New Faces: Outside of the two new additions at goalie, the Pioneers have welcomed four other fresh faces to the team … Sophomore Louis Educate transferred in from Nichols College where he finished the year ranked fifth in the country with an average of 1.56 points per game … Educate netted 27 goals and added 15 assists for Nichols last season and he was named to the USCHO.com Division III All-Rookie Team after leading the country in rookie scoring … Freshman forward
Nick Miglio (San Antonio, TX/Bismarck (NAHL)) tallied 26 points (14 goals, 12 assists) for Bismarck of the NAHL last season … Joining Miglio from Bismarck will be freshman defender
Donny Olivieri (Philadelphia, PA/Bismarck (NAHL)) who registered 41 points for the Bobcats, leading all defensemen, last season … Freshman
Joel Wetmore (Horseheads, NY/Lindsay (OJHL)) is the final new face at UC and he comes to Utica after totaling 74 points in two seasons with the Lindsay Muskies of the OJHL.
Pioneers in the Community: The Utica College men's hockey team has already logged over 210+ hours of community service so far this year.
Welcome Home Krogel: Friday night the Pioneers will welcome back one of their former captains and current Morrisville State Head Men's Hockey Coach Kevin Krogel to the Aud … Krogel is a 2007 graduate of Utica College where he captained the Pioneers in his senior season … He played in 78 career games and totaled 31 points … He has spent the last four years as the Mustang's top assistant prior to taking over head coaching duties this Fall.
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