UTICA, NY – The Utica College men's hockey team travels to the Buck Supply Winter Classic Tournament this weekend hosted by nationally-ranked No. 7 Plattsburgh State.  The Pioneers will play No. 15 Amherst on Friday afternoon in first round action at 4 p.m.  On Saturday, Utica will play either Plattsburgh or New England College in the championship game (7 p.m.) or the consolation game (4 p.m.). 

LIVE OPTIONS: The Plattsburgh State athletic communications office will provide live stats for the entire tournament (http://www.sidearmstats.com/plattsburgh/mhockey/).

SOCIAL MEDIA: Make sure to follow live updates of the game 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.

HEATING UP: Utica entered the holiday break unbeaten in five of its last six outings … The Pioneers wrapped up a five game home stand with a 4-3 victory over Morrisville on December 11^th …  UC outscored opponents 19-9 in the recent five game home stand.

FIRST SEMESTER NOTES: The Pioneers are currently 5-5-2 overall … They played nine of their first 12 games at the friendly confines of the Utica Memorial Auditorium … They opened the season with a victory over Castleton before going on a six game winless streak (two ties) … They have won  four of their last five games. 

EDUCATE HITTING HIS STRIDE: Former ECAC West Player of the Year Louie Educate (Chicago, IL/Aberdeen (NAHL)) leads the team and ranks third in the conference with 13 points through 12 games …His six goals this season are tied for the league-lead … His eight power-play points (four goals, four assists) rank fourth in the ECAC West … He has eight points in his last six outings … He also leads the team with three game-winning goals. 

100 POINT CLUB: Educate now has 109 career points (67 at Utica, 42 at Nichols) …He is the fourth player in program-history to score over 100 career collegiate points … He started his collegiate career at Nichols College where he netted a career-high 27 goals and 15 assists before transferring to Utica ... In 67 games as a Pioneer he has totaled 67 points on 30 goals and 37 assists.

GLAD TO ASSIST YOU: Senior assistant captain Justin Hogan (Val Therese, Ontario/Brooks Bandits (AJHL)) leads Utica and ranks third in the conference with 10 assists … His 12 points are tied for fourth in the conference … Freshman defender Dalton Carter (Toledo, OH/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) leads the conference in defenseman scoring with 11 points on three goals and eight assists … His 11 points are also tops among freshmen in the ECAC West.

ALL SET IN NET: Junior transfer goalie Dylan Wells (Nashville, TN/Bonnyville (AJHL)) has emerged as the Pioneers' everyday goalie … Wells currently ranks second in the ECAC West with a 2.32 goals against average … He is 4-1 in his last five outings and allowed just one goal in the loss to Trinity … He has an overall record of 4-2-1 and a career-best save percentage of .920 … He had a recent stretch of three straight games where he allowed just one goal each game.

SPECIAL TEAMS: The Pioneers have the highest rated special teams in the ECAC West with a net of +4 … Utica's power-play is +14, while allowing 10 goals on the penalty kill … Utica currently ranks second in the ECAC West on the power-play (27.3%) … The Pioneers have scored on 15-of-55 power-play chances this season.

SUCCESS IN THE SECOND PERIOD: The Pioneers currently lead the conference with 21 goals in the second period … UC's 41 total goals also lead the league. 

FIRST SEMESTER HIGHLIGHT: One of the first semester highlights for UC was a 4-4 tie against then nationally-ranked No. 2 Oswego State in front of a new NCAA Division III men's hockey indoor record 7,047 fans at the Frozen Dome Classic … The contest was the first-ever collegiate hockey game to be played in Syracuse University's Carrier Dome.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The Pioneers remain on the road after this weekend as they travel to Castleton State College for a rematch of this year's home-opener … The Pioneers will take on the Spartans on January 10 at 7 p.m.