UTICA, NY – The Utica College men's hockey team returns to action at the Utica Memorial Auditorium against ECAC West Conference opponent and nationally-ranked No. 14 Neumann University in back-to-back games Friday and Saturday. Both games are scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
How Loud? Indium Loud!: Friday night is Indium Night at the Aud as the Pioneers host the Knights ... Doors open at 6 p.m. and the puck will drop at 7 p.m. ... Tickets for each game this weekend are available at
http://ev8.evenue.net/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/SEGetGroupList?groupCode=GS&linkID=utica Last Time Out: Utica dropped both of its road games over the weekend … UC was defeated 4-2 by Oswego on Friday while falling 2-1 to SUNY Potsdam on Saturday … Sophomore
Kevin Valenti (Queensbury, NY/Northern Cyclones (EHL)), freshman
Justin Derlago (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Selkirk (MJHL)), and sophomore
Riley Egan (Lakewood, OH/Philadelphia (EHL)) all scored one goal each over the weekend for the Pioneers.
Home Sweet Home: The Pioneers are currently 6-2-1 in front of the nation's largest fan base at the Utica Memorial Auditorium this season … The Pioneers are looking to snap a four game winless streak after rattling off five straight victories to close out the first semester … Utica is 8-6-2 overall and 2-3-1 in the ECAC West.
Down the Stretch They Come: Utica enters the heart of its ECAC West schedule as their final nine games of the regular season are conference contests … Five of the nine games will be played at home as the Pioneers battle for a position to host conference tournament post season play at the Aud.
All-Time Against Neumann: Earlier this year, the Knights defeated visiting UC 5-3 on Nov. 20, 2015 … Utica is currently 18-22-4 all-time against the Knights … The home team holds the advantage winning 24-of-44 games.
Scouting The Knights: Neumann is 10-5-1 overall with a 2-4-0 ECAC West record … The Knights last two games were a 4-1 loss and a 5-5 tie to SUNY Geneseo … Neumann is led by Mike Davis (29 points, 17 goals, 12 assists) and Shayne Morrissey (23 points, eight goals, 15 assists).
Tough To Score On: As a team, the Pioneer defense is eighth in the nation having allowed just six goals in 58 penalty situations (89.7%) … Junior captain
Kevin Kirisits (Buffalo, NY/Brockville (CCHL)) is the leader of the Pioneers defensive unit and has even posted one goal and five assists this season.
Rookie Of The Year Candidates: Utica freshmen classmates
Hayden Dawes (Stony Plain, Alberta/Drayton Valley (AJHL)) and goalie
Michael Fredrick (Lethbridge, Alberta/Brooks Bandits (AJHL)) have made an immediate impression in their short time at the collegiate level … Dawes is tied for first in the ECAC West and is tied for 23
rd in the nation in rookie scoring with 0.87 points per contest … Fredrick ranks 17
th in Division III in goals against average (1.92), and 12
th in DIII in save percentage (.938).
Young Offense: Utica's top five point scorers are all freshmen or sophomores … Sophomore
Kevin Valenti (Queensbury, NY/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) is second on the team with 11 points off of two goals and nine assists while classmate
Anthony McVeigh (Kemptville, Ontario/Carleton Place (CCHL)) is third on the team with 10 points off of two goals and eight assists …
Mikhail Bushinski (Woodbury, MN/Kenai River (NAHL)) has nine points off of two goals and seven assists while fellow sophomore
Alex Brissette (Atlanta, GA/Hampton Roads (USPHL)) rounds out the top five with eight points off of six goals and two assists.
Senior Leadership: Senior
Nick Miglio (San Antonio, TX/Bismarck (NAHL)) is tied for fifth in the nation with three game winning goals … Senior assistant captain
Joel Wetmore (Horseheads, NY/Lindsay (OJHL)) is the Pioneers active leading scorer with 84 games played, 13 goals and 25 assists.
Dinner With a Pioneer: The annual fundraiser for Make-A-Wish® Central New York is back and once again features a chance to win dinner with the team ... Throughout the season, fans can purchase raffle tickets at home games, which are played at the Utica Memorial Auditorium ... Twenty-nine lucky fans will have the chance to enjoy dinner with their favorite player ... Winners will be drawn on Feb. 7 and the dinner will be held Feb. 11 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Valentino's Banquet Hall in Washington Mills ... Proceeds benefit Make-A-Wish Central New York, which grants the special wishes of local children with life-threatening conditions.
Looking Ahead: UC is back in ECAC West Action on the road against nationally-ranked No. 3/5 Hobart on Friday (1/29/16) and Saturday (1/30/16) … Friday nights game is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. start time while Saturdays game is scheduled to start at 4 p.m.
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.
Pioneers All-Access: Make sure to catch live video, audio and stats on Pioneers All-Access: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/utica/ … Audio is provided by WPNR 90.7 FM.
ESPN Broadcast Information: Several Utica College men's hockey home games will be broadcast on the radio locally at WTLB 99.1 FM/1310 AM (ESPN Radio) by Dave Peroni and UC alum Ray Biggs … Live streaming audio can also be accessed on WTLB's website, www.espnur.com... Fans can also download the free ESPNUR app on their Iphone or Droid device by searching "ESPNUR" in their respective app store.
WPNR Broadcast Information: Utica College home games are also broadcast over the air and online by Utica College's student radio station, WPNR 90.7 FM … Fans can also download the free WPNR 90.7 FM app on their Iphone or Droid device by searching "WPNR" in their respective app store.
