Utica  (11/9/12)- The Utica College women's hockey team will face off against ECAC West Conference rival and nationally-ranked No. 4 Elmira College Friday evening at 7 p.m. on the road at the Murray Athletic Center before returning home to the Utica Memorial Auditorium for game two on Saturday night at 7 p.m.

Last Time Out: The Pioneers are coming off a two game split with Oswego State University last weekend… They won the first meeting at home in The Aud, but dropped the second game as visitors in the Lakers' Campus Center Ice Arena… UC is 1-1 after two games heading into game three with Elmira.

Soaring Eagles: No. 4 Elmira College is presently 3-0-1, having defeated Manhattanville College 3-1 and skating to a 2-2 tie with Norwich University in the East-West Classic... The following weekend they dominated the Cortland Red Dragons in conference play 4-0 on Saturday and 5-0 on Sunday... The Soaring eagles are one of four teams in the nation to receive first place votes in the national rankings according to the most recent USCHO.com National Poll.  

Leading the Way: UC's Megan Myers (Las Vegas, NV/LA Selects) seems to be carrying over momentum from last season when she had a career-high and league-best 40 points on 17 goals and 23 assists, earning her an ECAC West First Team All-Conference selection… Myers has already accumulated two goals and one assist in the two game series against Oswego State last weekend....  Her career numbers include 42 goals and 27 assists for a combined total of 78 points.

Helping Out: Four other Pioneers have tallied at least one goal through the two games this season… Junior Brittany DelleChiaie (Leominster, MA/The Winchendon School) has a goal and two assists… She was also the leading scorer in the Pioneers' three exhibition games, racking up five goals and one assist… Seniors Carmen Johnson (Falls Church, VA/Washington Pride) and Meghan McMahon (Gardner, MA/St. Marks (MA)) as well as freshman Morgan Reed (Fort Myers, FL/Cushing Academy) have also found the back of the net for UC… Defensively, senior Mary Fusco (Enfield, CT/Salve Regina University) (three assists) and sophomore Courtney May (Oxford, MI/Belle Tire) (two assists) have chipped in as well.

Hockey History: These two teams have met 18 times in regular season play since the 2003-2004 season and three times in tournament play...  During that time UC has recorded a 2-15-1 regular season record against the Soaring Eagles, but they are 2-1 in tournament play...  Utica's last win over Elmira came at the 2010-2011 ECAC Womens West Conference Tournament when the Pioneers took down the Soaring Eagles 2-1 at the Murray Athletic Center.

Looking Ahead: The Pioneers will return to ice action on November 16 & 17, when they play a home and away set against SUNY Cortland... Friday's game at the Utica Memorial Auditorium is at 4 p.m., while Saturday's game in Cortland begins at 3 p.m.


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