Utica, NY (2/22/2013) – The top-seeded Utica College men's hockey team is set to host fourth-seed Manhattanville College in the ECAC Men's West Conference Tournament Semifinals on Saturday at the Utica Memorial Auditorium. The contest is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
Tickets: Tickets are currently on sale at the Auditorium Box Office, $8 Adults/$4 students with ID and children 18-under … The Auditorium Box office is open Monday – Friday 10 a.m. -4 p.m. Fans can also purchase tickets online at http://www.ticketmaster.com/venue/259 … Tickets will also be sold on the night of the game, if available.
Conference Tournament History: The Pioneers have played in 11 ECAC Men's West Conference Tournament games dating back to 2004 … UC has hosted three playoff games at the friendly confines of the Utica Memorial Auditorium in program history … Utica hosted rival Neumann in quarterfinal action last season … The Pioneers also hosted the semifinals, defeating Elmira, and the finals, where they lost to Manhattanville back in 2005 … The Pioneers are 2-9 all-time in tournament games … UC has appeared in six conference tournament semifinal games … The Pioneers have advanced to the finals twice in 2005 and 2006 … The Pioneers have played Manhattanville three times in post season action, posting a 1-2 record in those meetings … The last time UC beat the Valiants in the playoffs was at Manhattanville in 2006.
Banner Year: The Pioneers secured a share of the ECAC Men's West Conference title and the top seed in the conference tournament after posting a program-best 20-4-1 overall record, including an 11-3-1 ledger in the ECAC West … The Pioneers are currently ranked No. 1 in the NCAA East Regional Rankings, No. 2 in the D3hockey.com National Poll and No. 7 in USCHO.com National Poll.
The Honors Begin to Roll In: Seven members of the Utica College men's hockey team were honored as ECAC Men's West All-Conference selections on Tuesday morning … After leading the league in scoring, sophomore forward
Louie Educate (Chicago, IL/Aberdeen (NAHL)) was named the Conference's Player of the Year, and for the third time in 12 years, Head Coach
Gary Heenan was named the ECAC West Coach of the Year … Four of the seven All-Conference second team selections were Pioneers, including junior forwards
Trever Hertz (Jaffray, British Columbia/Quesnel Millionaires (BCHL)) and
Jon Gaffney (Dover, NJ/Springfield Blues (NAHL)) … Freshman defender
Donny Olivieri (Philadelphia, PA/Bismarck (NAHL)) was also a second team selection alongside UC goalie
Nick Therrien (Rochester, NH/NY Apple Core (EJHL)) … Junior defender
Mike Slowikowski (Ewing, NJ/N.J. Hitmen (EJHL)) was named an honorable mention for the second straight season as well.
Meet the Valiants: Manhattanville (14-9-3, 6-6-3 ECAC West) comes to town riding the highs of a convincing 9-1 win over Elmira in the ECAC Men's West Conference Tournament Quarterfinals on Wednesday night … Manhattanville will be playing its fourth game in the last seven days, going 1-1-1 in the first three … Four Valiants recently earned ECAC Men's West All-Conference accolades including senior assistant captain Scott Hudson and sophomore Anton Racklin, who led the way with first-team honors at forward and defense, respectively ... Junior Luc Van Natter earned a spot as a second-team forward, while freshman Matt Coleman was rewarded with a spot on the All-Rookie team … Hudson earns All-Conference honors for the third time, while it's the first career honors for Racklin, Van Natter and Coleman.
Season Series Against M'Ville: The Pioneers earned a 2-0-1 season-series advantage over the Valiants … These two teams closed out the regular season last weekend when they squared off at M'Ville … This will be the Pioneers third straight game against the Valiants … The Pioneers defeated the Valiants 4-1 at home on Jan. 26th … UC also defeated Manhattanville 3-2 on the road last weekend, before closing out the year with a 4-4 tie against the Valiants at Terry Conners Rink.
All-Time Series: Manhattanville owns a 20-10-5 all-time series advantage over UC dating back to 2002 … The Pioneers have won six of the last eight meetings against M'Ville.
Louie, Louie: Educate, who transferred to UC this past season after spending one year at Nichols College where he earned USCHO.com Division-III All-Rookie team honors, currently ranks 13th nationally with an average of 1.40 points per contest … He currently leads the ECAC West with 17 goals and 18 assists through 25 games played … He needs two more goals to tie the College's single-season record of 19 set back in 2009-10 by former Utica All-American
Tim Coffman (Elverson, PA/Laconia (AJHL)).
Therrien's A Rock: Utica goalie
Nick Therrien (Rochester, NH/NY Apple Core (EJHL)) is making his first all-conference appearance after posting a school-record 18 wins between the pipes for the Pioneers … His 18 wins also tied for the national lead … He tallied a 2.15 goals against average and a .924 save percentage to go along with two shut outs.
If UC Wins: If Utica College men's hockey wins on Saturday, February 23, 2013 they will play again at the Aud on Saturday, March 2, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. for the ECAC West Championship … The opponent would be the winner of the other ECAC Men's West Semifinal between Hobart and Neumann.
• If UC wins tonight, Season Ticket Holders can redeem their ECAC Men's West Playoff vouchers for the March 2, 2013 game at the Aud Box Office beginning on Monday, February 25, 2013.
NOTE: When purchasing tickets at the Box Office, if you are using acredit/debit card there is a $1.00 per ticket TicketMaster transaction fee added to the price of the ticket.
• Please call the Aud at 315-738-0164 for Box Office times and confirmation of Season Ticket voucher redemption release.
• Season Ticket holders will have three days from the time the Aud releases tickets to redeem their Season Ticket vouchers and purchase tickets. (i.e. If tickets are released on Monday, Season Ticket holders will have Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to redeem and purchase their tickets). Again, please call the Aud at 315-738-0164 for Box Office times and confirmation of Season Ticket voucher redemption release.
• Season Ticket vouchers that have not been redeemed and purchased after the designated timeframe will be released to the public.
• Tickets will be $8.00 for adults and $4.00 for UC students (with ID) and children 18 and under.
