UTICA, NY – The Utica College men's hockey team returns to the ice this weekend when the Pioneers travel to ECAC Men's West Conference opponent Manhattanville College to take on the Valiants on Friday and Saturday. Both contests at the newly renovated Playland Ice Casino will take place at 7 p.m.

FOLLOW THE ACTION: The Manhattanville Athletic Communications department will offer live stats (http://www.sidearmstats.com/manhattanville/mhockey/) and pay-per-view video (http://www.govaliants.tv/) for both contests this weekend.

UC VS. MANHATTANVILLE: The last time these two teams met was just a few weeks back on January 17^th at the Utica Memorial Auditorium and the Pioneers skated to a 2-0 victory … Utica exploded with two third period goals to earn the conference win … Senior forward Peter LaFosse (Merrimack, NH/Kimball Union Academy) netted his second goal in as many games while Louie Educate (Chicago, IL/Aberdeen (NAHL)) sealed the two goal victory with 5:32 remaining in regulation … Junior goalie Dylan Wells (Nashville, TN/Bonnyville (AJHL)) stopped all 27 shots he faced to earn his first collegiate shut out.

ALL-TIME SERIES: Utica has won 10 of its last 13 meetings against the Valiants … Manhattanville owns a 21-12-5 all-time series advantage over UC dating back to 2002.

WHERE UC STANDS: The Pioneers are in the midst of a four game road trip … UC is 8-6-4 overall this season … Utica is 7-2-3 in their last 12 games.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE: The Pioneers have the fourth strongest strength of schedule in the country according to the KRACH rankings on USCHO.com … Two of the Pioneers early season opponent are ranked in the top four of the USCHO.com National Poll (No. 3 Trinity, No. 4 Oswego).

LAST TIME OUT: The Pioneers led 5-1 6:58 into the second period but host Neumann University rallied with four consecutive goals as the ECAC West Conference opponents skated to a 5-5 overtime tie last Saturday night … Louie Educate (Chicago, IL/Aberdeen (NAHL)) led the Pioneers with one goal and two assists.

ALL-AMERICAN CANDIDATE: Utica's Louie Educate (Chicago, IL/Aberdeen (NAHL)) is tied for second nationally with four game-winning goals this season … He is tied for second in the ECAC West with 20 points … He also ranks second in the conference with 10 goals … Educate ranks 11^th in the conference with 10 assists … He is tied for fourth in the conference with 10 power-play points. 

LEND A HELPING HAND: Utica's Justin Hogan (Val Therese, Ontario/Brooks Bandits (AJHL)), Easton Powers (South Lyon, MI/Port Huron (NAHL)) and Trent Samuels-Thomas (West Hartford, CT/Omaha (USHL)) are all tied for sixth in the ECAC West with 12 assists this season.

GROWING UP FAST: Freshman Dalton Carter (Toledo, OH/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) ranks seventh in the conference and first among rookies with seven power-play points … Carter also ranks second in the conference in defenseman and rookie scoring with 13 points (four goals, nine assists) ...  Freshman Kevin Valenti (Queensbury, NY/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) is tied for fourth in the conference in rookie scoring with ten points … Utica has seven of the top 21 freshman scorers in the conference. 

PROTECTING THE NET: UC goalie Dylan Wells (Nashville, TN/Bonnyville (AJHL)) ranks third in the ECAC West with a goal against average of 2.46.

MEET THE VALIANTS: Manhattanville is 7-7-4 overall this season and 2-2-2 in its last six games … They are coming off a split at Elmira College last weekend … Freshman forward Stephen Gaul leads the team with 14 points on seven goals and seven assists … Teagan Waugh and Jake Mooney both have 11 points for the Valiants … Brian Fleming has seen the bulk of the action in goal for Manhattanville and he has a 2.43 goals against average to go along with a 6-6-3 overall record.