Utica, NY (1/22/14)- The nationally ranked No. 10 Utica College women's hockey team has its hands full this weekend as it takes on top-ranked Plattsburgh State in ECAC West Conference action.  Game times are set for 7 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Saturday, both at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.

GAME COVERAGE: As always, live stats and video for all home games is provided by Utica College… Links to game coverage are on the women's hockey schedule page of ucpioneers.com… Live audio for Saturday's contest will be provided by ESPN Radio 99.1 FM.

LAST TIME OUT: UC is coming off a conference sweep over Chatham University… On Saturday, freshman Gabrielle Schnepp (Northville, MI/Belle Tire) tallied two goals, and Megan Myers (Las Vegas, NV/LA Selects) scored the game-winner to lift Utica to a 4-3 victory… UC went on to top the Cougars 3-2 on Sunday behind goals from Myers, Vanessa Maines (Boxborough, MA/Boston Jr. Shamrocks), and Morgan Reed (Fort Myers, FL/Cushing Academy)… The Pioneers are now 11-3 overall and are tied with Elmira for third in the conference with a 6-2 league record. 

NATIONALLY RANKED: Utica was ranked 10th in the most recent uscho.com national poll… The Pioneers have been on the brink of cracking the top-10 for the last few weeks and finally made it into the poll on Monday… UC is the third ECAC West team to be ranked as Plattsburgh has sat atop the poll for the last ten weeks and Elmira is currently No. 3… Three of the Pioneers' next five games are against either the No. 1 or No. 2 team in the country… Utica takes on current No. 2 Middlebury College on Tuesday, Feb. 4.     

LEADING THE WAY: Senior Megan Myers (Las Vegas, NV/LA Selects) is sixth in the nation, and second in the conference with 1.64 points per game… She is also tied for fifth in the country and first in the league with 13 goals and .93 goals per game… Freshman Gabrielle Schnepp (Northville, MI/Belle Tire) is fourth nationally in scoring amongst rookies with an average of 1.14 points per game… Morgan Reed (Fort Myers, FL/Cushing Academy) is currently second on the squad with 17 points (six goals, 11 assists).   

CLASH OF THE COACHES: Both Utica College Head Coach Dave Clausen, and Plattsburgh Head Coach Kevin Houle were named ECAC West Co-Coaches of the Year last season… In 12 full seasons behind the bench, coach Clausen has racked up 172 wins for the Pioneers… He has also led UC to 11 ECAC West Tournament appearances in 12 years. 

SCOUTING PLATTSBURGH: The Cardinals have been ranked No. 1 in the last ten national polls… Plattsburgh is currently undefeated with a 14-0-1 overall record and a perfect 7-0 mark in league play… The Cardinals are led by junior Shannon Stewart and senior Allison Era, who each have 20 points… Stewart's 13 goals are tied with Megan Myers (Las Vegas, NV/LA Selects) for first in the conference… The Cardinals have allowed just four goals total on the season… Senior Sydney Aveson leads the nation in goals against average (.27) and save percentage (.985) while collecting a 10-0-1 record so far.

AGAINST THE CARDINALS: UC is 1-27-4 all-time against Plattsburgh… The Pioneers' win came by way of a 2-1 overtime victory on Nov. 8, 2008… Last year, Utica tied the Cardinals 3-3 and then fell 3-0… Louise Steele-Norton (Avondale, PA/Millbrook School) had one goal, while Kelsey Dowdall (Smiths Falls, ONT/Nepean) and Morgan Reed (Fort Myers, FL/Cushing Academy) each had one assist. 

LOOKING AHEAD: UC takes on SUNY Cortland in a home-and-home series next weekend… The Pioneers will travel to Cortland on Friday at 7 p.m. before returning to "the Aud" for a 2:30 p.m. face off against the Red Dragons on Saturday.


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