UTICA, NY—The Utica College men's hockey team will travel to ECAC West Conference foe Nazareth College on Friday night.  The puck is set to drop at 7 p.m. in what will be the regular season finale for both teams.

THE PLAYOFF PICTURE: Each team in the ECAC West has one regular season game remaining on its schedule … All six teams in the conference automatically qualify for the conference tournament … Hobart College has locked up the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament and has earned a first round bye … Nazareth and Neumann head into the weekend tied for second place with 17 points each … Neumann plays sixth place Manhattanville on Friday night and a win will give the Knights second place in the league and a conference tournament first round bye (Neumann holds the season series head-to-head tie-breaker advantage over Nazareth) … Elmira has secured the No. 4 seed and first round hosting rights in the conference tournament after defeating Utica in the three game season series, 2-1 … Utica has earned the No. 5 seed in the conference tournament and will travel to Elmira for first round action … Details of the playoff contests will be solidified by the ECAC this weekend following the closure of regular season play.

LIVE OPTIONS: The Nazareth Athletics Communications office will provide live stats and live video for Friday night's match up between the Golden Flyers and the Pioneers … Live video can be accessed at: http://nazathletics.com/watch ... Live stats can be followed at: http://www.sidearmstats.com/nazareth/mhockey/.  

UC SO FAR: UC looks to gain momentum on Friday night at Nazareth after falling in three of its last four games … The Pioneers currently hold an 11-9-4 overall record and a 4-8-2 ledger in the ECAC West … Utica is 3-3-1 overall on the road this season.

WINNING TRADITION: Utica has secured a record of .500 or better for the 10^th time in program-history … The Pioneers have boasted a winning record in eight of the last 10 seasons and they have won at least 11 games 13 times since the program's inception back in 2001. 

HISTORY AGAINST NAZARETH:  In the last eight meetings, Utica holds a 5-2-1 record against Nazareth… This includes a loss and a tie from earlier this season… In the first match-up at The Aud on Nov. 7th, the teams skated to a 2-2 tie… Freshman Anthony McVeigh (Kemptville, Ontario/Carleton Place (CCHL)) chipped in with a goal and freshman Dalton Carter (Toledo, OH/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) contributed two assists… In game two, UC lost 5-4 in a high scoring affair… Senior Peter LaFosse (Merrimack, NH/Kimball Union Academy) led the way for the Pioneers as he scored twice.

LAST TIME ON THE ICE: The Pioneers are coming off of a two-game split with Elmira College in at The Aud last weekend … Freshman Alex Brissete netted his second third period game-winner in his last four games as the Pioneers skated to a 3-2 victory over the Soaring Eagles on Friday night … Senior Louie Educate (Chicago, IL/Aberdeen (NAHL)) and freshman Dalton Carter (Toledo, OH/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) picked up two points apiece… Game two on Saturday resulted in a tough loss as UC went down 2-1 in overtime… Anthony McVeigh (Kemptville, Ontario/Carleton Place (CCHL)) scored the lone goal for the Pioneers, with assists coming from sophomore Easton Powers (South Lyon, MI/Port Huron (NAHL)) and Dalton Carter (Toledo, OH/Northern Cyclones (EHL)).

EDUCATE FILLING THE STAT SHEET: Utica's Louie Educate (Chicago, IL/Aberdeen (NAHL)) currently ranks fifth in the conference with 23 points (11 goals, 12 assists) this season … He now has 119 career points (62 goals, 57 assists) in 106 career games at the division III level … He has 77 points (35 goals, 42 assists) in three seasons with the Pioneers.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR CANDIDATE: Freshman defender Dalton Carter (Toledo, OH/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) currently ranks second on the team with 18 points this season … He ranks second in the conference in rookie scoring and he is tied for the league-lead in defenseman scoring … He also is tied for sixth in the league with 11 power-play points (three goals, eight assists).

POWER UP: Sophomore forward Easton Powers (South Lyon, MI/Port Huron (NAHL)) is having a breakout season and he is currently tied for 12^th in the league with 18 points (four goals, 14 assists) … His 14 assists lead the team and are tied for fifth in the conference. 

ASSISTANT CAPTAINS: Senior assistant captain Justin Hogan (Val Therese, Ontario/Brooks Bandits (AJHL)) ranks fourth on the team with 16 points on three goals and 13 assists this season … In 86 career games, Hogan has 45 points on 13 goals and 32 assists … Junior assistant captain Joel Wetmore (Horseheads, NY/Lindsay (OJHL)) has five goals and nine assists … He needs one more point to tie his career-high. 

BRICK WALL: Junior goalie Dylan Wells (Nashville, TN/Bonnyville (AJHL)) has been stellar this year as he sports a 2.39 goals against average, as well as a 9-5-3 record … His goals against average and winning percentage are ranked second in the ECAC West. 

BRIGHT FUTURE: Eight of the Pioneers top 11 scorers are expected to return to the roster next season … First year players Dalton Carter (Toledo, OH/Northern Cyclones (EHL)), Kevin Valenti (Queensbury, NY/Northern Cyclones (EHL)), Trent Samuels-Thomas (West Hartford, CT/Omaha (USHL)) and Anthony McVeigh (Kemptville, Ontario/Carleton Place (CCHL)) all have at least eight points this season … UC also has eight players that have contributed at least 10 points this season.

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.