Utica, NY (1/15/14)- The Utica College women's hockey team gets back to ECAC West Conference play this weekend as it travels to Pittsburgh, PA for a match up against Chatham University.  The Pioneers take on the Cougars Saturday and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT:  Utica had its eight-game winning streak snapped by nationally ranked No. 4 Norwich University in a 4-2 loss on Saturday… Senior Megan Myers (Las Vegas, NV/LA Selects) and junior Nicole Kieffer (Rome, NY/Lysander Lightning) scored for UC… The Pioneers rebounded on Sunday however, to down Manhattanville College 4-1… Freshman Victoria Pelton (Sterling Heights, MI/Belle Tire) had two goals, while junior Nicole Schwartz (Danville, CA/San Jose Sharks) and sophomore Morgan Reed (Fort Myers, FL/Cushing Academy) each had one goal… Jennifer Hamel (Ithaca, NY/Northwood School) stopped 27-of-28 shots on Sunday for her seventh victory of the season.

A LOOK AT THE ECAC WEST: Utica (4-2 ECAC W) is currently fourth in the conference standings, trailing third placed Oswego State (4-1-1 ECAC W) by just one point… UC's only conference losses so far have come to nationally ranked No. 3 Elmira College… 10 of the Pioneers' 13 remaining games are conference games, including a home set against unanimous No. 1 Plattsburgh State next weekend.   

PELTON NAMED ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: Freshman Victoria Pelton (Sterling Heights, MI/Belle Tire) was recently named the ECAC West Rookie of the week after netting two goals, including the game winner, just 1:54 apart, in Utica's 4-1 win over Manhattanvile on Sunday… Pelton now has three goals and two assists in 12 games this season.

IN THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT: The Pioneers are once again just outside the top-10 in the most recent USCHO.com national poll… UC is currently first in the "receiving votes" category with ten votes… UC's three losses have come at the hands of No. 3 Elmira and No. 4 Norwich… Senior Megan Myers (Las Vegas, NV/LA Selects) leads the conference and ranks seventh nationally with .92 goals per game… She is also 10th nationally in points per game (1.58)… Freshman Gabrielle Schnepp (Northville, MI/Belle Tire) is tied for fifth in the country in rookie scoring with 1.00 points per game… Senior Jennifer Hamel (Ithaca, NY/Northwood School) is in the top-20 nationally in save percentage (.927) and goals against average (1.90).

SCOUTING CHATHAM: The Cougars are currently 3-8-2 and hold a 2-4 mark in the conference… They are coming off a split against SUNY Canton last weekend… Freshman Brianna Rice leads the team with five goals and five assists…  UC is 21-0-1 against Chatham all-time… Last year, Utica topped the Cougars 5-0 and 3-0… Five different players scored on the weekend including Vanessa Maines (Boxborough, MA/Boston Jr. Shamrocks), Nicole Schwartz (Danville, CA/San Jose Sharks), and Louise Steele-Norton (Avondale, PA/Millbrook School), who had multiple points.

LOOKING AHEAD: The Pioneers host league rival, and nationally ranked No. 1 Plattsburgh State next weekend… Game time is set for 7 p.m. on Friday and 3 p.m. on Saturday.


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