Utica, NY (2/4/2014) – The nationally-ranked No.15 Utica College men's hockey team returns to the ice this weekend when it hosts ECAC West Conference foe Neumann University for two games Friday and Saturday night (7 p.m.) at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.
Follow All the Action: Several options are available to follow this weekend's contests 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 or follow audio online at
www.utica.edu/student/activities/organizations/wpnr/listenlive.cfm ... Live stats for both games can be found online at:
www.sidearmstats.com/utica/mhockey/ 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 … Fans can also find updates on the Pioneers Facebook page at
www.facebook.com/UCpioneers.
Last Weekend: UC split two games against ECAC West foe Elmira College on the road, including a 7-6 overtime defeat on Friday night and a 3-2 victory over the Soaring Eagles on Saturday … Senior
Adam Graff (Bear, DE/Syracuse Stars (EJHL))Â led the Pioneers with two goals on Friday night, while junior
Louie Educate (Chicago, IL/Aberdeen (NAHL)) and senior
Trever Hertz (Jaffray, British Columbia/Quesnel Millionaires (BCHL)) each registered a goal and an assist on Saturday … Saturday's win snapped a five game winless streak (0-3-2) for the Pioneers.
ECAC West: The Pioneers (11-5-4, 6-3-1 ECAC West) are currently tied for second in the conference with Hobart (11-5-4, 5-2-3 ECAC West)… Leading the way is Elmira who has a 7-3 mark and a one point advantage in the conference standings… The Pioneers have five games left in the season, all of which are league games at the Aud .
Last Time UC & Neumann Met: UC scored three goals in the final period on its way to a convincing 6-2 win on Nov. 16… Six different Pioneers scored in the game, including Hertz, Graff, Educate, freshman
Luc Boby (Chicago, IL/Kalamazoo (NAHL)), sophomore
Nick Miglio (San Antonio, TX/Bismarck (NAHL)), and senior
Jon Gaffney (Dover, NJ/Springfield Blues (NAHL)) … Boby scored his first collegiate goal… The victory gave Utica a weekend sweep over its opponents and placed the Pioneers on top of the ECAC West standings early on in the season.
Pioneers vs. Neumann in the Past: Hertz has seen success against the Knights in recent years… In his last three games against Neumann, he has totaled seven points (six goals, one assist), including a hat-trick last January… UC is 3-1 against Neumann in the last four head-to-head matchups.
Scouting Neumann: The Knights are currently 7-8-4 overall and 2-5-2 in the ECAC West … They are currently on a five game winless streak (0-4-1), which includes a tough 3-2 loss against Geneseo and a 2-2 tie on the road at Manhattanville last weekend … Six of the Knight's top seven scorers are freshman … First-year forward Shane Morrissey has 16 points on 10 goals and six assists to pace the Knights … Freshman Ryan Luiten and junior Chris Bournazos are tied for second on the team with 13 points apiece.Â
In the National Spotlight: Utica is ranked No. 15 in the latest USCHO.com national poll … The Pioneers have been ranked in the nation's top 15 in the USCHO.com national polls since the beginning of the season … UC is currently 19th nationally in scoring offense with an average of 3.50 goals per game and it is tied for 21st in the nation in scoring defense (2.45 goals against).
Hertz Honored: Hertz's three point weekend at Elmira helped him move into sole possession of third place on the College's all-time scoring list … He now has 95 career points (43 goals, 52 assists) in 97 games played … Hertz surpassed 2013 graduate
Evan Chlanda (Islip, NY/Springfield (EJHL)), who registered 93 points in 98 games as a Pioneer (40 goals, 53 assists) … He now needs just five points to become the third player in program-history to score 100 or more points in a career … For his efforts last week he was named the ECAC Men's West Conference Player of the Week for the third time in his career.
Garbutt on National Leaderboard: UC senior
Ridge Garbutt (Toronto, Ontario/Brewster Academy (NH)) has two shorthanded goals this year which is tied for second nationally in that category… His last shorthanded tally came against Hamilton on Jan. 25… Garbutt has 16 points on the season (seven goals, nine assists).
Goalies Sharing Time: Utica goalies
Nick Therrien (Rochester, NH/NY Apple Core (EJHL)) and freshman
Marcus Zelzer (Green Bay, WI/Kenai River (NAHL)) have split time in net for the majority of the season … Therrien has a 2.21 goals against average (23rd nationally) and a 8-3-2 overall record … Zelzer has a 2.77 GAA and a 3-2-2 record between the pipes.
Veteran Leadership: Four of the Pioneers' top five scorers this season are seniors … Graff leads the team with nine goals … Hertz has a team-best 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists)… Garbutt is third on the team with 16 points (seven goals, nine assists), while Gaffney has 13 points this year (six goals, seven assists) and 86 in his career.
Looking Ahead: Utica will return home next week to host ECAC West rival, Nazareth College on Valentine's Day… Game time is set for 7 p.m.… Friday's game at the Auditorium will be Oneida County Stop DWI Night.
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