UC will host Manhattanville Sunday at 4 p.m. in the ECAC Men's West Conference Tournament Semifinals for the second straight year
Utica, NY (February 27, 2014) – The top-seeded and nationally-ranked No. 14/15 Utica College men's hockey team is set to host fourth-seeded Manhattanville in the semifinals of the ECAC Men's West Conference Tournament on Sunday (4 p.m.) at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.
Tickets: Tickets for Sunday's game are $8/Adults, $4/Students (Any College Student w/ ID) or children 18 and under … Tickets are available at the Utica Memorial Auditorium Box Office or through the Ticketmaster website only (
http://www.ticketmaster.com/venue/259) … For more information about UC hockey playoff tickets please
CLICK HERE.
Follow All the Action: Several options are available to follow the contest if you cannot make it out to Utica Memorial Auditorium… Both games will be broadcast on ESPN Radio 99.1 FM or online at
www.espnur.com by play-by-play man Dave Peroni and color analyst Fred Miller… Both games will also be called by play-by-play man Ray Biggs on WPNR 90.7 FM, and WPNR's streaming audio is online:
HERE... Live stats for the game can be found online:
HERE and live video for the games can be viewed at
www.empire8.tv… Fans can also 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 #LetsGoUC.
Conference Tournament History: The Pioneers have played in 12 ECAC Men's West Conference Tournament games dating back to 2004 … UC has hosted four playoff games at the friendly confines of the Utica Memorial Auditorium in program-history … Utica hosted Manhattanville in the semifinals of the conference tournament last season and lost 2-1 … Utica hosted rival Neumann in quarterfinal action in 2011-12… The Pioneers also hosted the semifinals, defeating Elmira, and the finals, where they lost to Manhattanville back in 2005 … The Pioneers are 2-10 all-time in ECAC West tournament games … UC has appeared in seven conference tournament semifinal games … The Pioneers have advanced to the finals twice in 2005 and 2006.
Regular Season Champs, Again: The Pioneers (15-6-4), winners of five of their last six regular season games, have now won three ECAC West regular season titles in program-history … They edged NCAA Tournament bound Manhattanville for the outright title in 2004-05, they shared the regular season conference crown with Hobart but earned the top seed in the tournament last season, and this year they earned the outright title after finishing the regular season with a 10-4-1 ledger in conference play … 10 wins in the ECAC West are the second most in program-history behind last year's edition of the Pioneers who won 11 conference games.
UC vs. Manhattanville: Manhattanville owns a 21-10-5 all-time series advantage over UC dating back to 2002 … The Pioneers have won eight of the last eleven meetings against M'Ville … Utica has played Manhattanville four times in post season action, posting a 1-3 record in those meetings … The last time UC beat the Valiants in the playoffs was at Manhattanville in 2006 … For the second straight season the Pioneers have ended the regular season with two games against Manhattanville while earning the top seed in the conference tournament.
Regional Rankings Breakdown: The second release of the NCAA Division III men's hockey regional rankings were issued on Tuesday afternoon and the Utica College men's hockey team moved up one spot to No. 6 in the East Region … The regional rankings, produced by the NCAA National selection committee, are used to determine selections for the NCAA Division III Tournament.
On the National Scene: Utica is ranked No. 14 in the latest USCHO.com National Poll … The Pioneers are ranked No. 15 in the D3hockey.com National Poll.
All-Conference Picks: Senior forward
Trever Hertz (Jaffray, British Columbia/Quesnel Millionaires (BCHL)) was named the Conference Player of the Year as the 2013-2014 ECAC Men's West Hockey All-Conference teams were released Wednesday ... Hertz and senior classmate
Nick Therrien (Rochester, NH/NY Apple Core (EJHL)) were also selected to the All-Conference First Team … Senior forward
Jon Gaffney (Dover, NJ/Springfield Blues (NAHL)) and senior defender
Mike Slowikowski (Ewing, NJ/N.J. Hitmen (EJHL)) earned honorable mention status … The Player of the Year honor marks the second time in as many seasons that a Utica player was selected as the Conference's POY … Junior forward
Louie Educate (Chicago, IL/Aberdeen (NAHL)) earned the conference's top honor last season.Â
Meet the Player of the Year: Hertz, who was an all-conference second team selection last season, averaged 1.00 points per game throughout the regular season, which tied for eighth in the conference … He also tied for third in the conference with 17 assists … He currently leads the team with 25 total points (eight goals, 17 assists) … 16 of his points came in ECAC West Conference play … His three game-winning goals are tied for the team lead … He registered six multi-point games this season and he has scored at least one point in each of the last eight games for UC … He has 102 career points in 102 games played and is just the third player in program-history to score over 100 points in a career (44 goals, 58 assists).Â
Best Goalie in the ECAC West: Senior goalie
Nick Therrien (Rochester, NH/NY Apple Core (EJHL)) was selected as the conference's top goalie after being named to the all-conference first team on Wednesday … Therrien, who was a second-team selection last season, has played in 19 games this year, including 14 of the Pioneers' 15 conference contests … He leads the ECAC West with a 2.16 goals against average and he has a 12-4-2 overall record … He also ranks second in the conference with a .922 save percentage … His .722 winning percentage led all goalies in the ECAC West … Over the course of four seasons in the blue and orange he has a 45-16-3 overall record to go along with five shut outs … His 45 career wins are currently second on the College's all-time wins list behind 2008 graduate Adam Dekker.Â
Gaffney Gets it Done: Jon Gaffney (Dover, NJ/Springfield Blues (NAHL)) is making his second straight appearance on the All-Conference list after earning second team status last season ... Gaffney, an honorable mention this year, currently ranks third on the team with 21 points on nine goals and 12 assists ... He has eight points in his last five games ... 15 of his 21 points this season came in conference play ... Gaffney recently moved into sole possession of fourth place on the College's all-time scoring list with 94 career points ... He surpassed 2013 UC graduate
Evan Chlanda (Islip, NY/Springfield (EJHL)) (93 career points) for fourth all-time.
Four Time All-Conference Pick: 6-foot-6 senior defender
Mike Slowikowski (Ewing, NJ/N.J. Hitmen (EJHL)) is making his third consecutive appearance on the honorable mention list after earning all-rookie team status as a freshman ... Slowikowski totaled five assists in 23 games played this season and helped anchor a UC defense that allowed just 2.22 goals per game this season ... The Pioneers outscored their opponents by an average of 1.15 goals per game, good for 15
th in the country.
Making the Most of His Senior Year: Senior
Ridge Garbutt (Toronto, Ontario/Brewster Academy (NH)) ranks second on the team with 23 points this year on 11 goals and 12 assists … Garbutt scored just five points before the semester break, but has really turned it up a notch in the second half of his senior season … Since the semester break Garbutt has scored 18 points in 14 games … He has six multi-point games in his last 14 appearances … Garbutt recently snapped a seven game scoring streak.
Graff Looks to Break Out in Post Season: Senior forward
Adam Graff (Bear, DE/Syracuse Stars (EJHL)) opened the season with 12 points in the first 11 games … He has since cooled down with five points since returning from semester break … Graff certainly has the potential to take over a game and he proved it by netting a hat-trick to defeat Hobart 3-2 back on Nov. 23
rd.
Meet the Valiants: Manhattanville has won two straight headed into Sunday's semifinal contest … The Valiants defeated Neumann 5-2 on Wednesday night to advance to the semi's for the third straight season … The Valiants currently hold a 13-11-2 overall record … Senior forward Luc Van Natter leads the Valiants and is tied for the conference lead with 32 points on 15 goals and 17 assists this season … Junior Jake Mooney ranks second on the squad with with 28 points (12 goals, 16 assists) … Senior goalie Alex Scola is expected to get the knod between the pipes ... Scola has a 10-7-2 overall record and a 2.73 goals against average this season.
