Utica, NY (1/31/13)- The Utica College women's hockey team looks to continue its recent success as it travels to SUNY Plattsburgh this weekend for an ECAC West series against the No. 1 ranked Cardinals. Saturday's game is scheduled for 7 p.m. while Sunday's contest will begin at 3 p.m.
Last Time Out: The Pioneers are coming off a weekend sweep of Chatham University… UC shutout the Cougars by a combined score of 8-0 on the weekend… Junior
Vanessa Maines (Boxborough, MA/Boston Jr. Shamrocks) and sophomore
Nicole Schwartz (Danville, CA/San Jose Sharks) each had two goals on the weekend, while
Louise Steele-Norton (Avondale, PA/Millbrook School) had a goal and two assists… Both
Jennifer Hamel (Ithaca, NY/Northwood School) and
Marissa Hotaling (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) recorded a shutout as each played one game.
Where We Sit: With the two wins last weekend, Utica moved into third place in the ECAC West Conference standings… Elmira currently holds the top spot with a 12-2 record, followed closely by Plattsburgh State with a perfect 11-0 league record and an unbeaten 19-0-1 mark overall… Oswego is fourth at 8-4 in the league (10-9-1 overall)… Neumann and Cortland are tied for fifth with a 4-8 conference mark, followed by Potsdam (3-7-1), Buffalo State (2-8), and Chatham (0-12).
Recent Success: The Pioneers, winners of five straight, are unbeaten in their last seven games and have picked up back-to-back league sweeps… UC has outscored opponents 22-4 over the seven game stretch… Utica is also receiving votes in the latest USCHO.com online poll… The Pioneers received two votes to put them currently in the top 15 teams in the country.
Schwartz Picking It Up: Sophomore
Nicole Schwartz (Danville, CA/San Jose Sharks) was named to the ECAC West honor role after her impressive performance last weekend… She is now third on the team in scoring with three goals and eight assists… She has tallied seven points (two goals, five points) in the last five games.
Call Me “May”be: Sophomore
Courtney May (Oxford, MI/Belle Tire) is second on the squad in points and has a team-high 13 assists… May is in the top 20 in scoring in the league, and ranks third amongst defensemen.
Helping Out: 19 different Pioneers have tallied at least one point on the season and 12 different players have scored at least one goal… Junior
Megan Myers (Las Vegas, NV/LA Selects) has a team-best 11 goals and 19 points, while freshman
Morgan Reed (Fort Myers, FL/Cushing Academy) is forth on the squad with four goals and five assists.
Scouting Plattsburgh: The Cardinals have held the No. 1 ranking in the country for the last 11 weeks… Plattsburgh is 19-0-1 on the season, with their lone tie coming by way of a 2-2 split against Norwich University on Oct. 28… They are fresh off a 3-1 win over No. 5 ranked Middlebury College on Wednesday night… The Cardinals have ten players with ten or more points on the season… They are led by senior Teal Gove and sophomore Shannon Stewart… Gove has 33 points on the year (17 goals, 16 assists), while Stewart has netted 18 goals and added 12 helpers for 30 points on the season.
Against the Cardinals: UC is 1-26-3 all-time against Plattsburgh… Their lone win was a 2-1 overtime victory at Plattsburgh on Nov. 8, 2008… Last year the Cardinals defeated Utica 7-1 and 3-1 in their weekend series.
Looking Ahead: UC returns to action Tuesday as it travels to nearby Clinton, NY to take on cross-town rival Hamilton College… Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m… Next weekend, the Pioneers remain on the road as they travel to Buffalo, NY for their final league weekend as they take on Buffalo State… Saturday's game will be at 4 p.m. while Sunday's is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.
Place Your Bids: The special edition gold ribbon jerseys that the team will be wearing for their game against Cortland State on Feb. 12 are
currently being auctioned off online… The game is to help spread awareness for childhood cancer... The team will also be accepting donations and selling t-shirts during the contest with all proceeds being donated to a local family to help ease medical costs.
--- www.ucpioneers.com ---
