UTICA, NY -- The unbeaten and nationally-ranked No. 7/8 Utica College men's hockey team hits the road this weekend as the Pioneers travel to Elmira College on Friday night and No. 6/6 Hobart College on Saturday for ECAC West Conference action. Both contests are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

Follow the Action Live: Live video and stats for Friday's game at Elmira will be available at: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/elmira/ … Pay-per-view video for Saturday's game at Hobart is available at: http://www.hwsathletics.com/watch/?Live=653 … Live stats for Saturday will be available here: http://campus.hws.edu/athletics/hobart/hockey/live/xlive.htm

Climbing the National Polls: The Utica College men's hockey team continued its ascent in the USCHO.com and D3hockey.com National Polls released Monday … Utica moved up two spots to No. 7 in the USCHO.com poll and they also rose three spots to No. 8 in the latest D3hockey.com National poll … Utica's six wins this season are currently tied for the most in Division III men's hockey – Salve Regina (6-1-0)  is the only other six win team as of Friday morning.

Unbeaten: The Pioneers are off to their best start in program-history and have now tied the program-record for most consecutive wins -- at any point in the season -- matching six straight wins previously accomplished in 2012-13 and 2003-04 … The last time Utica won six straight games was back in 2012-13 when the Pioneers finished the year with a program-best 21-6-1 overall record and advanced to the NCAA Division III Championship Semifinals in Lake Placid for the first and only time in program-history … Utica (6-0, 4-0) and Oswego State (5-0, 3-0 SUNYAC) remain as the only two teams in Division III men's hockey to have played at least one game and not registered a loss or a tie.

Fun to Watch: Utica has scored at least four goals in each of its first six games this season … The Pioneers are now tied for fourth nationally in scoring (5.0 goals per game) and they are also tied for ninth nationally in scoring defense (2.0 goals allowed per game).

Taking Advantage of the Power-Play Chances: Utica sports the fourth-best power-play unit in the country, scoring on 10-of-33 man-advantage chances this season (30.3%) … The Pioneers rank third nationally in combined special teams (43/71, 60.6%).

Two-Head Monster: Freshman goalie Patrik Virtanen (Vantaa, Finland/Lincoln (USHL)) stopped 27 shots and held the visitors to an 0-for-4 effort on the power-play as the Pioneers topped visiting Lebanon Valley 4-1 on Saturday ...  Virtanen is now 3-0 this season and he ranks 10th nationally and first in the ECAC West with a 1.67 goals against average … Virtanen has split time in net with junior transfer Henry Dill (Columbus, OH/UMASS (Hockey East)) … Dill ranks 25^th nationally with a .924 save percentage and he also has a 2.33 goals against average to go along with a 3-0 record.

National Leader: As of Friday morning junior forward Roman Ammirato (Williamstown, NJ/Union College (ECAC)) is tied for the national lead with 14 total points (six goals, eight assists) this season … He led the Pioneers with five points last weekend as he posted two goals and three assists in two ECAC West victories for Utica over Lebanon Valley and Stevenson.

In the National Spotlight: Ammirato is tied for tenth nationally with an average of 1.00 goals per game this season … He is also tied for 12^th nationally with an average of 1.33 assists per game … Vince Stefan (Pittsburgh, PA/Kenai River (NAHL)) and Ammirato are tied for second nationally with an average of .33 short-handed goals per game … Alex Roberts (Burnaby, British Columbia/Brooks Bandits (AJHL)) is tied for second nationally with two game winning goals … Senior defender Connor Schmidt (Monroe, MI/Arizona State (D1-Ind.)) is tied for 18^th nationally and ranks second in the conference in defensemen scoring with an average of 1.17 points per game. 

Paving the Way in the West: The Pioneers currently lead the ECAC West in goals scored (30) and they have the fewest goals allowed (12) … Utica has the top power-play unit and the top combined special teams in the conference.

Balanced Scoring: Utica has 30 goals this season with 11 coming in the first period, nine in the second period and 10 in the third period … 12 players have scored four or more points this year for the Pioneers.

Active Leading Scorers: Utica's Kevin Valenti (Queensbury, NY/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) and Easton Powers (South Lyon, MI/Port Huron (NAHL)) are tied for the designation as the team's career active leading scorer … Valenti has 37 career points in 60 games played (12 goals, 25 assists) … Powers has 10 goals and 27 assists in 67 career games … Powers broke out with two goals in the Pioneers win over Lebanon Valley last weekend. 

Coming On Strong: Mikhail Bushinski (Woodbury, MN/Kenai River (NAHL)) ranks second on the team with eight points …  He has tallied at least one point in five of six games … He has two goals in his last three games … He also has three outings where he recorded two points.

Scouting Elmira: Elmira is currently 1-5-0 overall and 1-3-0 in ECAC West play … The Soaring Eagles lost in overtime last weekend at Neumann and also dropped a 6-2 decision at Manhattanville … Their lone win of the season came against Lebanon Valley on Nov. 5^th …  Elmira is led by Connor Powell who has seven points in six games played … Matthew Cuce, Nick Ford and Eric Bolden are all tied for second on the team with six points … Sal Magliocco has started all six games in net for the Soaring Eagles and he has a 5.41 goals against average … Utica is 3-4-1 against Elmira in the last two seasons … Four of those games have been decided by one goal … The Pioneers last defeated Elmira in the quarterfinals of the ECAC West Conference Tournament last season. 

Scouting #6 Hobart: The nationally-ranked No. 6/6 Statesmen are the defending ECAC West Conference Champions, defeating Utica in the conference championship game last season, 5-0 … Hobart currently holds a 4-1-1 overall record, with an early season tie against nationally-ranked Babson and a loss to Manhattanville last weekend … Seniors Bo Webster and Bobby Sokol lead the Hobart scoring contingent with seven and six points, respectively … Freshman Zach Sternbach is a player to watch, as he also has six points on four goals and two assists this season … Junior goalie Frank Oplinger is the likely starter in net for Hobart and he currently holds a 2-1-1 record to go along with a 3.19 goals against average … Utica looks to snap a seven game losing streak in the all-time series against Hobart this weekend. 

NCAA Div. III Championships: On March 24-25, Utica College and the City of Utica will proudly host the NCAA Division III Men's Hockey Championships at the Aud for the first time in program history … The four remaining teams in the NCAA Div. III Tournament will make their way to Utica, NY to participate in the semifinals and the finals at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.
 
Mark Your Calendars: The 12th annual New York Sash Teddy Bear Toss is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 17th as the Pioneers host Morrisville State at 7 p.m. … In the last 11 years nearly 30,000 stuffed animals have been collected through the New York Sash Teddy Bear Toss … Fans should make sure to get tickets early because the Teddy Bear Toss has been sold out in five consecutive seasons.
 
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.

Pioneer Pride Points: Utica athletics has a fan rewards program to promote fan engagement for all 26 of UC's intercollegiate sports… Powered by SuperFanU, the "Pioneer Pride Points" Fan Rewards app uses GPS tracking to recognize where fans are located at specified home games… Points are earned by attending and "Checking In" to UC athletics games, participating in a variety of contests and interacting with social media platforms through the app… The app is available on all IPhone and Android devices by searching 'Pioneer Pride Points' in the Apple App Store or GooglePlay Market and is free to all Utica College students, faculty, staff, parents, alumni and fans.