Utica, NY (11/21/14) – The Utica College men's hockey team looks to get back on track this weekend as it takes on ECAC West foe, Neumann University and non-conference rival, Oswego State. The Pioneers host Neumann Friday night at 7 p.m. before traveling to Syracuse, NY on Saturday to face Oswego in the Frozen Dome Classic (3 p.m.) at Syracuse University's Carrier Dome.
SOCIAL MEDIA: If you can't make it out to the game make sure to follow live updates on the Pioneers official Twitter feed: @UCPioneers… If you are at the game and on Twitter, or talking about the game on Twitter, make sure to use #UCMoose… You can also "Like" the Pioneers on Facebook at www.facebook.com/UCpioneers ... Fans can also follow the Pioneers on Instagram: UCPioneers.
FROZEN DOME CLASSIC: Utica and Oswego State will face off in the first every hockey game at the Syracuse Carrier Dome … The puck is set to drop at 3 p.m. Saturday … Time Warner Cable will be televising the event on channel 325 … Oswego State will be providing the broadcast and you can follow online at http://oswegolakers.com/watch ... Fans will also be able to listen to live audio on KROCK 94.9 FM or Utica College's student-run radio station, WPNR 90.7 FM … After the game, there is a matchup of two American Hockey League teams; the Syracuse Crunch and the Utica Comets.
LAST TIME OUT: The Pioneers have lost the last three games by just one goal each, despite outshooting their opponents 91-89 in that stretch… Against Hobart, the Statesmen forced overtime with a goal midway through the third period; while in overtime Hobart scored in the first two minutes to take home the win … Utica's
Mike Taffe (Moose Lake, MN/Amarillo (NAHL)) made 35 saves while four different Pioneers scored, including
Kevin Kirisits (Buffalo, NY/Brockville (CCHL)),
Luc Boby (Chicago, IL/Kalamazoo (NAHL)),
Kevin Valenti (Queensbury, NY/Northern Cyclones (EHL)), and
Dalton Carter (Toledo, OH/Northern Cyclones (EHL)).
HOT START: Freshman defender
Dalton Carter (Toledo, OH/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) has come out of the gates firing … Carter's team leading three goals and seven assists rank first in the ECAC West … His average of 2.0 points per game leads the nation amongst defensemen … He has also scored at least one point in every game this season … Last week, he was named the Conference's Rookie of the Week.
TOP SHOT: Senior
Louie Educate (Chicago, IL/Aberdeen (NAHL)) leads the team with 20 shots and he has totaled one goal and four assists, tying him for second on the team in points (five) … His lone goal came against Nazareth (11/08/14) on a power play … He has managed to get a point in four of the five games.
MAN ADVANTAGE: The Pioneers are 9-for-26 on the power play this season… Freshman
Brent Wold (Lac Du Bonnet, Manitoba/Dauphin (MJHL)) leads the team with three power play goals… Senior
Peter LaFosse (Merrimack, NH/Kimball Union Academy) and freshman
Dalton Carter (Toledo, OH/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) each have two tallies with the man advantage… Utica's power play is tied for fifth in the nation with a .346 conversion rate.
SCOUTING NEUMANN: The Knights are 3-1-1 overall and their lone loss came against Hobart on Nov. 8 … Neumann faced off with Manhattanville last weekend and picked up two wins; one of which was an overtime thriller … The Knights have six different players with two goals this season and another nine that have at least one point … Ben Curley leads the Knights in net with a goals against average of 2.32 and 122 saves.
LAST TIME AGAINST THE KNIGHTS: Last year the Pioneers won all three games against the Knights, winning 6-2, 3-1, and 4-2 …
Luc Boby (Chicago, IL/Kalamazoo (NAHL)) scored in all three games and totaled four goals against Neumann.
ALL TIME AGAINST NEUMANN: The Pioneers are on a four game winning streak against Neumann dating back to 2012-13 season … The Pioneers are currently 18-19-3 all-time against the Knights … The home team holds the advantage winning 23 of the 40 games.
SCOUTING OSWEGO: The Lakers are a perfect 5-0 this season … UC and the Lakers share a common opponent in Nazareth, the Lakers beat Naz 4-0 while Utica is 0-1-1 against Naz so far … Oswego has 18 different players with at least one point on the season; six of which have at least three goals … The Lakers have outscored their opponents 33-10.
LAST TIME AGAINST THE LAKERS: UC tied Oswego 2-2 in their first meeting last season and then fell to the Lakers 5-3 at home in their series finale… Utica had five different players score in the two game series including,
Justin Hogan (Val Therese, Ontario/Brooks Bandits (AJHL)),
Jon Gaffney (Dover, NJ/Springfield Blues (NAHL)),
Adam Graff (Bear, DE/Syracuse Stars (EJHL)),
Ridge Garbutt (Toronto, Ontario/Brewster Academy (NH)), and
Jordan Hobaica (Clinton, NY/Northwood School);
Luc Boby (Chicago, IL/Kalamazoo (NAHL)) and
Trever Hertz (Jaffray, British Columbia/Quesnel Millionaires (BCHL)) tallied two assists each.
SERIES AGAINST OSWEGO: The Pioneers are currently 6-12-1 all-time against Oswego … Utica's last win came in the 2012-13 season when the Pioneers swept the two game series, 3-2 and 6-0.
LOOKING AHEAD: UC will return home next Friday night to host Hamilton College for a non-conference game starting at 2 p.m. On Saturday, the Pioneers will host Connecticut College for a 7 p.m. game.
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