UTICA, NY – The Utica College men's hockey team hits the road for two ECAC West Conference games this weekend. On Friday, the Pioneers take on Neumann University at 7 p.m. On Saturday, UC travels to Manhattanville College with the game scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
 
Receiving Votes: The Utica College men's hockey team is receiving votes in both the USCHO.com and D3hockey.com National Polls released Monday …  The Pioneers are receiving 11 votes in the USCHO.com poll and eight votes in the D3hockey.com poll.
 
Last Time Out: The Pioneers split Friday and Saturday's contests … On Friday UC defeated ECAC West Conference rival Elmira 4-3 … On Saturday Utica lost to nationally ranked conference opponent Hobart 5-1 … The weekend saw five different players score for the Pioneers as they continue to produce goals as a team … Mikhail Bushinski (Woodbury, MN/Kenai River (NAHL)), Alex Brissette (Atlanta, GA/Hampton Roads (USPHL)), Alex Roberts (Burnaby, British Columbia/Brooks Bandits (AJHL)), and Hayden Dawes (Stony Plain, Alberta/Drayton Valley (AJHL)) all scored against Elmira while Kevin Valenti (Queensbury, NY/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) netted the only goal against Hobart.
 
Leading The Way: Sophomore Alex Brissette (Atlanta, GA/Hampton Roads (USPHL)) and freshman Hayden Dawes (Stony Plain, Alberta/Drayton Valley (AJHL)) lead the team with six points apiece … Brissette leads the team with four goals while having two assists … Dawes is second on the team with three goals and tied for second on the team with three assists … The pair are tied for seventh in the conference with an average of 1.20 points per contest … Dawes is tied for the league lead in rookie scoring with his six points on the year, and is tied for ninth in DIII in points per game for a rookie (1.20) … Brissette is tied for first in Division III in short-handed goals (2), and is first in short-handed goals per game (0.40).
 
In The Net: Michael Fredrick (Lethbridge, Alberta/Brooks Bandits (AJHL)) ranks second in the conference with a goals against average of 2.36 … He also ranks second in the conference with a save % of .922 … On the year Fredrick has 141 saves and a 3-1-1 record.
 
Team Effort: UC has 17 players with at least one point on the year, and 10 players with more than one point on the year … Kevin Valenti (Queensbury, NY/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) is third on the team with five points (one goal, four assists) while Mikhail Bushinski (Woodbury, MN/Kenai River (NAHL)) is fourth on the team with four points (two goals, two assists) … Alex Roberts (Burnaby, British Columbia/Brooks Bandits (AJHL)) (two goals, one assist), Anthony McVeigh (Kemptville, Ontario/Carleton Place (CCHL)) (three assists), Vinny Stefan (three assists), and Dalton Carter (Toledo, OH/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) (three assists) are all tied for fifth on the team with three points.
 
Penalty Kill: The Pioneers are tied for 12^th in Division III in penalty kills … The team has killed 22 of 24 penalties while scoring two short-handed goals … UC has a 91.7 penalty kill percentage.
 
Scouting Neumann: The Knights are 3-2-0 overall with a 1-2-0 ECAC West Conference record … Neumann is currently on a two game losing streak losing games 4-1 to Hobart and 5-4 in overtime to Manhattanville … The Knights are led by Mike Davis (13 points off of eight goals and five assists), Shayne Morrissey (nine points off of three goals and six assists), and goalie Matt Gibney (109 saves, a 2.75 goals against average, and a .908 save percentage) ... Utica is 18-21-4 all-time against Neumann ... Last year UC went 0-2-1 against the Knights.
 
Scouting Manhattanville: The Valiants are 4-1-0 overall with a 2-1-0 ECAC West record … Manhattanville is currently on a two game win streak defeating conference opponents Elmira 4-1, and Neumann 5-4 in overtime … The Valiants are led by Stephen Gaul (eight points off of four goals and four assists), Cory Anderson (six points off of three goals and three assists), and goalie Kyle Redmond (79 saves, a 2.90 goals against average, and a save percentage of .919) ... UC is 14-21-5 against Manhattanville since 2002 ... Utica won all three contests against the Valiants last year and are 6-1-0 against Manahattanville over the last two years.

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.

Looking Ahead: The Pioneers return to the ice to host the Radisson Thanksgiving Showcase the weekend after Thanksgiving … On Friday UC takes on Saint John's University while on Saturday the team hosts the University of St. Thomas … Both games are scheduled to start at 7 p.m.