Utica, NY (3/6/14) – The top-seeded and nationally-ranked No. 12/13 Utica College men's hockey team is set to host second-seeded Elmira College in the ECAC Men's West Conference Tournament Final on Saturday (8:30 p.m.) at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.

ECAC Men's West Hockey Game Ticket Information: $8/Adults, $4/Students (Any College Student w/ ID) or children 18 and under. All game ticket sales (season ticket playoff vouchers and general public) began on Tuesday, March 4, 2014 (10 a.m.) at the Utica Memorial Auditorium Box Office. Online ticket sales will begin Friday, March 7 at the ticketmaster website (http://www.ticketmaster.com/venue/259). For more information about 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 13 ECAC Men's West Conference Tournament games dating back to 2004 … UC has hosted five 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 week and won 1-0 … The Pioneers returned the favor after getting knocked out of the Conference Tournament last year by Manhattanville … 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 3-10 all-time in ECAC West tournament games … UC has appeared in eight conference tournament semifinal games … The Pioneers have advanced to the finals twice before (2005 and 2006).

Regular Season Champs, Again: The Pioneers (16-6-4), winners of six of their last seven 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 … This year Utica 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. Elmira: Since the 2004-05 season, UC is 10-15-5 against Elmira … Utica is 4-2 against Elmira over the last two seasons … All three games between the two teams this year were decided by a single goal … UC's only loss to Elmira this season was a 7-6 overtime defeat on Jan. 31 … Utica's last loss to the Soaring Eagles marks the most goals scored in a loss since Oct. 19, 2002, when the Pioneers fell to SUNY Potsdam 6-5 … The last time UC advanced to the Conference Championship, it faced Elmira on the road and lost by a score of 3-2.

Regional Rankings Breakdown:  As of Feb. 25, the Utica College men's hockey team is ranked 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. 13 in the latest USCHO.com National Poll … The Pioneers are also ranked No. 12 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.

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 26 total points (eight goals, 18 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 eight of the last nine games for UC … He has 102 career points in 103 games played and is just the third player in program-history to score over 100 points in a career (44 goals, 58 assists).

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 … Therrien, who was a Second Team selection last season, has played in 20 games this year, including 15 of the Pioneers' 16 conference contests … He leads the ECAC West with a 2.05 goals against average and he has a 13-4-2 overall record … He also ranks second in the conference with a .925 save percentage … His .737 winning percentage led all goalies in the conference … Over the course of four seasons in the blue and orange he has a 46-16-3 overall record to go along with six shutouts … His 46 career wins are currently one shy of 2008 graduate Adam Dekker's school record of 47.

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 six 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 2.26 goals per game this season ... The Pioneers outscored their opponents by an average of 1.12 goals per game, good for 15th 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 winter break, Garbutt has scored 18 points in 15 games … He has six multi-point games in his last 14 appearances.

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.

Meet the Soaring Eagles:  Elmira defeated third-seeded Hobart 5-3 in the Conference Semifinals to advance to the Championship game, the third time both teams faced off within an eight-day period ... Hobart won the first two matchups to end the regular season … Sophomore Brian Depp led the way for the Soaring Eagles with his first collegiate hat-trick, including the game-winner in the final period … Elmira currently owns a 15-10-1 overall record … The Soaring Eagles are advancing to the ECAC West Championship game for the first time since winning the tournament in the 2010-11 season … They are led by junior Josh Burnell, who has 34 points this season (15 goals, 19 assists) … Senior Jesper Strale is second with 30 points (10 goals, 20 assists) … The Soaring Eagles have a total of seven players with 10+ assists and five players with 10+ goals … Of those players, four have double digit goals and assists (Burnell, Strale, Jarryd ten Vaanholt, Michael Collins) … Freshman goalie Sal Magliocco has split time with junior Ryan deMelo in net for Elmira … Magliocco owns an 11-6 record and a 3.21 goals against average, while deMelo is 4-4-1 while allowing 3.45 goals per game… Head Coach Aaron Saul was Named ECAC West Coach of the Year this season after guiding the Soaring Eagles to a second place finish in the conference with a 9-5-1 mark in league play.  


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