Utica, NY (1/29/14)- The Utica College women's hockey team looks to bounce back this weekend, as it takes on SUNY Cortland in a home-and-home series. Game time is set for 7 p.m. on Friday at Cortland's Alumni Ice Arena, before both teams travel to Utica for a 2:30 p.m. face off on Saturday.
LAST TIME OUT: Utica is coming off two ECAC West Conference losses to nationally ranked No. 1 Plattsburgh State last weekend… The Cardinals, who have only given up four goals all season, shut out UC in both contests… The Pioneers, now 11-5, have only lost to teams ranked in the top four nationally (Elmira, Norwich, and Plattsburgh).
GAME COVERAGE: Links to live stats and video for both games are on the women's hockey schedule page at ucpioneers.com… Live audio for Saturday's contest will also be provided by Utica College's WPNR radio station (90.7 FM).
IN THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT: With the losses to Plattsburgh, the Pioneers were bumped out of the top-10 in the USCHO.com national rankings… However, the Pioneers are still receiving votes in the poll and are currently first in the "receiving votes" category… Senior
Megan Myers (Las Vegas, NV/LA Selects) is still in the top-10 nationally in scoring as her 1.44 points per game rank ninth… She is also tied for eighth in the nation with .81 goals per game… Freshman
Gabrielle Schnepp (Northville, MI/Belle Tire) is seventh in the country in scoring amongst freshman with 1.00 points per game.
HELPING OUT: 17 players have tallied at least one point on the season, including sophomore
Morgan Reed (Fort Myers, FL/Cushing Academy), who is second on the squad with 17 points (six goals, 11 assists)… Senior
Jennifer Hamel (Ithaca, NY/Northwood School) has a .907 save percentage and a 2.44 goals against averaged with nine wins this season.
SCOUTING CORTLAND: The Red Dragons are 2-13-2 overall (1-8-1 ECAC West) and they are coming off a 4-1 loss to Hamilton on Tuesday… They are led by sophomore Niamh O'Connor who has four goals and four assists on the year.
AGAINST THE RED DRAGONS: UC has won its last eight games against Cortland including a three-game sweep over the Red Dragons last season… Utica downed Cortland 5-2 and 6-0 earlier this season…
Gabrielle Schnepp (Northville, MI/Belle Tire) had three goals and two assists while
Vanessa Maines (Boxborough, MA/Boston Jr. Shamrocks) had two goals and three assists on the weekend.
LOOKING AHEAD: UC travels to No. 2 Middlebury College Tuesday at 7 p.m… The Pioneers return home for an ECAC West Conference series against Neumann University next weekend… Puck drop is at 4 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.
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