UTICA, NY – The Utica College men's hockey team wraps up its regular season schedule as it hosts ECAC West Conference rival Nazareth College on The House of the Good Shepard Night Friday at the Utica Memorial Auditorium … The contest is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.

Playoff Picture: A win or a tie on Friday night against Nazareth would set the Pioneers up to host an ECAC West Conference Tournament quarterfinal game at the Aud next Wednesday, February 24^th … A Neumann loss at Manhattanville on Friday would also secure the Pioneers a home playoff game on February 24^th … First place Hobart College and second place Manhattanville have secured the top two seeds in the conference tournament and will receive a quarterfinal bye.   

Last Time Out: The Pioneers went 0-1-1 over the weekend against Elmira College … The first game of the series ended in a 2-2 tie … Sophomores Dalton Carter (Toledo, OH/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) and Adam Moody (Newmarket, Ontario/Cowichan Valley (BCHL)) scored goals for the Pioneers on the night… The second game finished with Elmira scoring the game-winning goal in overtime to take a 3-2 win … Freshman Shawn Lynch (Syracuse, NY/Ottawa Jr. Senators (CCHL)) and junior Trent Samuels-Thomas (West Hartford, CT/Omaha (USHL)) scored for UC.

UC Hosts Hockey Clinic for Visually Impaired: The men's and women's hockey teams partnered with the Central Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (CABVI) at the Utica Memorial Auditorium on Thursday to help teach 33 blind and visually impaired kids how to play hockey … The Pioneers and CABVI also welcomed a goalie from the New York Nightshades, one of the only blind hockey teams in the United States … A big thank you is extended to the Whitestown Community Center Ice Rink, which provided skates for the clinic participants.

Senior Night: The Pioneers will honor their three graduating seniors before the start of Friday night's game, assistant captain Joel Wetmore (Horseheads, NY/Lindsay (OJHL)), forward Nick Miglio (San Antonio, TX/Bismarck (NAHL)) and goalie Dylan Wells (Nashville, TN/Bonnyville (AJHL)) … Wetmore is the active leader in career games played (94) for the Pioneers ... He has totaled 15 goals and 28 assists in his career, including six goals and five assists this year … Miglio has totaled 29 points (13 goals, 16 assists) in 72 career games played … This season he has totaled a career-high five goals and seven assists … Wells has compiled a 2.21 goals against average and .917 save percentage in 19 games during his two years at UC … As a junior he posted a 9-5-3 overall record, a 2.39 goals against average, 457 saves and one shut out.   

Finishing Strong: Freshman Shawn Lynch (Syracuse, NY/Ottawa Jr. Senators (CCHL)) and Adam Moody (Newmarket, Ontario/Cowichan Valley (BCHL)) have come on strong for the Pioneers late in the season … Shawn Lynch (Syracuse, NY/Ottawa Jr. Senators (CCHL)) has recorded four points in the last three games … In the overtime victory over Manhattanville (2/6/16) Lynch scored the game-winning goal … Moody has recorded four points in the last four games, he had a season-high three points in the 5-2 win against Manhattanville (2/5/16), where he scored two goals and added one assist.  

10^th in the East: UC is currently in a tie for 10^th in the first release of the NCAA Division III East Regional Rankings … These rankings are compiled by the NCAA National Committee for DIII Men's Hockey and are used develop the NCAA Tournament … The Pioneers are currently tied with Norwich for the tenth spot in the East.

Between the Pipes: Freshman goaltender Michael Fredrick (Lethbridge, Alberta/Brooks Bandits (AJHL)) has played the bulk of the minutes in net for the Pioneers this season … He is tied for 14^th in the country and second in the conference in save percentage (.935) … Fredrick leads the conference in saves (646) and he has an overall record of 11-8-4 this season.

Young Point Production: The top five point scorers for the Pioneers this season are either freshmen or sophomores… Freshman Hayden Dawes (Stony Plain, Alberta/Drayton Valley (AJHL)) leads the team with 15 points this season (nine goals and six assists) ... Freshman Alex Roberts (Burnaby, British Columbia/Brooks Bandits (AJHL)) (five goals and eight assists) has 13 points and sophomores Kevin Valenti (Queensbury, NY/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) (two goals and 12 assists) and Anthony McVeigh (Kemptville, Ontario/Carleton Place (CCHL)) (four goals, 10 assists) are tied with 14 points each … Sophomore Mikhail Bushinski (Woodbury, MN/Kenai River (NAHL)) (two goals and 10 assists) and senior Nick Miglio (San Antonio, TX/Bismarck (NAHL)) (five goals, seven assists) round out the top five with 12 points each.

Strong Defense: Utica's defense is led by sophomore Brett Szajner (Novi, MI/Amarillo (NAHL)), who has nine points on the season (two goals and seven assists) … Behind Szajner is junior captain Kevin Kirisits (Buffalo, NY/Brockville (CCHL)) with eight points (one goal and seven assists) … The Pioneer defense allows an average of 2.42 goals per game and have only given up 38 goals in conference play this season ... Utica's penalty kill unit ranks fourth nationally, having allowed just nine power-play goals in 91 penalty kill situations.

Scouting Nazareth: Utica is 6-2-3 against Nazareth all-time … The Golden Flyers are 8-12-4 overall with 5-8-1 ECAC West record headed into the final game of their regular season … Nazareth split the weekend against Neumann, losing 3-1 on Friday and winning on Saturday, 4-1 … The Golden Flyers are led by junior Dominik Gabaj (20 points off of six goals and 14 assists) and sophomore John Power (17 points off of six goals and 11 assists) … In between the pipes for the Golden Flyers is senior Ed Zdolshek (633 saves, .916 save percentage, and a 2.90 goals against average) … The Pioneers played the Golden Flyers earlier in the year and came away with a 4-1 win (11/6/15) and 2-2 tie (11/7/15).

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.