Louise Steele-Norton and the Pioneers take on Potsdam Friday at 7 p.m. at the Aud
Utica, NY (2/20/13)- The Utica College women's hockey team will host SUNY Potsdam in the quarterfinal of the ECAC West Conference Tournament Friday night at 7 p.m. at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.
Last Time Out: UC is coming off a sweep of Stevenson University last weekend… On Saturday the Pioneers won 3-1, before topping the Mustangs 4-1 on Sunday…
Meredith Tice (Hershey, PA/Washington Pride),
Brittany DelleChiaie (Leominster, MA/The Winchendon School),
Louise Steele-Norton (Avondale, PA/Millbrook School),
Carmen Johnson (Falls Church, VA/Washington Pride),
Meghan McMahon (Gardner, MA/St. Marks (MA)),
Kristen Beckman (Arnold, MD/Northwood School), and
Nicole Schwartz (Danville, CA/San Jose Sharks) each scored a goal for UC.
Playoff Picture: Utica finished tied with Oswego for third in the conference… The Lakers won the tiebreaker to take the third seed in the playoffs… The top two seeds, Plattsburgh and Elmira received byes into the semifinals… Oswego will play Neumann University in the other quarterfinal match up on Saturday at 2 p.m… The winners of the Oswego/Neumann and Utica/Potsdam games will travel to Plattsburgh next weekend for the final rounds of the tournament… The semifinals will take place Saturday, March 2, with the finals being Sunday, March 3.
Myers Leading the Way: Junior
Megan Myers (Las Vegas, NV/LA Selects) leads the team and ranks fourth in the conference with 28 points… Her .70 goals per game are 11th in the country and she is tied for 13th nationally in points per game (1.22).
Chipping In: Nine different players have registered at least ten points on the season… Sophomore
Nicole Schwartz (Danville, CA/San Jose Sharks) is second on the team with 16 points (six goals, 10 assists), followed by
Meghan McMahon (Gardner, MA/St. Marks (MA)) (four goals, 11 assists), and
Courtney May (Oxford, MI/Belle Tire) (14 assists)… Three Pioneers are tied with 13 points including
Carmen Johnson (Falls Church, VA/Washington Pride),
Morgan Reed (Fort Myers, FL/Cushing Academy), and
Louise Steele-Norton (Avondale, PA/Millbrook School).
Honorable Play: Senior
Marissa Hotaling (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) and junior
Brittany DelleChiaie (Leominster, MA/The Winchendon School) were each named to the ECAC West Honor Roll for their play last week… DelleChiaie had four points as the Pioneers went 3-0 last week… On Tuesday she netted a goal and an assist to help UC defeat Cortland 5-2… She also added a goal and an assist in Utica's 3-1 win over Stevenson on Saturday… DelleChiaie has four goals and eight assists on the season… Hotaling stopped 17 shots to help Utica defeat Cortland 5-2 last Tuesday... On Sunday she totaled 19 saves in a 4-1 win over Stevenson... On the season, she has a 1.48 goals against average and .929 save percentage to go along with three shutouts.
Scouting Potsdam: The Bears earned the No. 5 seed in the conference after finishing with a 6-9-1 mark in the league and a 10-13-2 overall record… Potsdam defeated Buffalo State 4-3 and 1-0 last weekend to get into the tournament… The Bears are led by junior Amanda Lucky who has six goals and nine assists for a team-high 15 points.
Against the Bears: UC is 5-2-3 all-time against Potsdam… Earlier this season the Pioneers tied and beat the Bears in a home-and-home series…
Megan Myers (Las Vegas, NV/LA Selects),
Kelsey Dowdall (Smiths Falls, ONT/Nepean), and
Vanessa Maines (Boxborough, MA/Boston Jr. Shamrocks) each scored one goal on the weekend, while sophomores
Nicole Schwartz (Danville, CA/San Jose Sharks) and
Courtney May (Oxford, MI/Belle Tire) had two assists in the two games.
Looking Ahead: The winner of this quarterfinal match up will travel to Plattsburgh next weekend to join Plattsburgh, Elmira, and the winner of the Oswego/Neumann quarterfinal… The semifinals will take place at 4 and 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 2, and the finals will be at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 3.
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