Utica, NY (1-10-13) – The Utica College women's hockey team is set for a home-and-home series versus ECAC West rival SUNY Potsdam beginning Saturday night at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.
Face-off Details: On Saturday afternoon the contest will be held at the friendly confines of “the Aud” with a scheduled puck drop of 4 p.m. … Then, on Sunday, the team heads to Bear country for a 2 p.m. face-off in Potsdam, NY … Sunday's game will take place on the Clarkson University campus at Cheel Arena where the Bears will play all of their home contests this season ... Potsdam's home ice of Macy Hall if currently under renovation.
Pioneers in the Four Spot: UC currently holds an overall record of 5-6, including a 3-3 mark in the ECAC West, good enough for fourth place in the standings … Utica recently snapped a three-game slide with an incredible, 4-0 win against nationally-ranked No. 7 Manhattanville College at the Aud … Prior to that, UC had dropped three-straight at home at the hands of local rival Hamilton and non-conference opponents Amherst and Middlebury, while getting outscored 8-2 in those games.
Last Time Out: Utica got back to its winning ways this past Saturday knocking No. 7 Manhattanville down to No. 10 in the national poll as it blanked the Valiants, 4-0 … Senior goalie
Marissa Hotaling (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) recorded her first win of the season in shut out fashion with a season-best 27 saves en route to being named the College's Female Athlete of the Week … UC opened up the scoring on a power-play goal by sophomore
Nicole Schwartz (Danville, CA/San Jose Sharks) in the first period and followed up with an even-strength score in the second from classmate Louise-Steele Norton to take a 2-0 lead in the final 20 minutes … Just 34 seconds into the final period junior
Meredith Tice (Hershey, PA/Washington Pride) gave the Pioneers a 3-0 cushion before leading scorer
Megan Myers (Las Vegas, NV/LA Selects) put the game out of reach on a short-handed goal, at 5:20, unassisted.
Bears Hunting for No.5: Potsdam is currently 6-8-1 overall and 2-5 in the conference … The Bears have won four-straight while outscoring opponents 17-7 and are 5-1-1 in their last seven games … SUNY opened up the season losing four consecutive and seven of its first eight.
UC vs. Potsdam: Last season, the squads went into overtime and resulted in a tie in back-to-back games on back-to-back days … In heads-up play, UC leads the all-time series 4-1-3 since Potsdam joined the ECAC Women's West Conference back in 2008 … However, the Bears have competed tough over the last two years earning their first win against Utica on Jan. 29, 2011 and then two ties last season.
Around the League: Nationally-ranked No. 3 Elmira College (13-1-1, 8-0 ECAC West) sits atop the ECAC Women's West with 16 points and an undefeated mark of 8-0 in the conference … Oswego State (7-6-1, 6-2 ECAC West) holds second place with 12 points and a 6-2 conference and will play third place Plattsburgh this weekend in Plattsburgh, NY … Nationally-ranked No 1 Plattsburgh (11-0-1, 5-0 ECAC West), also undefeated, occupies the third spot with Utica (5-6, 3-3 ECAC West) trailing in fourth with six points … Fifth place is presently shared by Buffalo State (5-9-1, 2-4 ECAC West), Neumann University (4-9-1, 2-4 ECAC West), and Potsdam (6-8-1, 2-4 ECAC West) who all have four points while Cortland (1-10-1, 1-5 ECAC West) resides in eighth with two points and Chatham (1-9, 0-6 ECAC West) rounding out the standings winless in ninth.
The Road Ahead: This weekend starts a stretch of eight straight conference contests for the Pioneers as they will wrap up the season with 10 of their final 14 in ECAC West play … Following this weekends series, UC returns to the ice next Saturday Jan. 19th as it heads to Aston, PA for a weekend set against Neumann University … The puck is set to drop at 7 p.m. on Saturday night and 3 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.
Save the Date: On Tuesday, Feb. 12, the Pioneers will host their first ever “Gold Ribbon Game” for childhood cancer awareness as they take on Cortland State… UC will don special edition gold jerseys that will then be raffled off after the game… All proceeds will be donated to a family in the Mohawk Valley that is currently dealing with the disease.
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