UTICA, NY- The Utica College women's hockey team wraps up regular season play this weekend as it hosts Buffalo State in ECAC West Conference action.  Game time is scheduled for 2 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Pioneers are coming off a split with nationally ranked No. 1 Plattsburgh State last weekend… On Saturday, Utica earned a thrilling 4-2 win over the Cardinals, snapping their 33-game winning streak… Senior Morgan Reed (Fort Myers, FL/Cushing Academy) and junior Gabrielle Schnepp (Northville, MI/Belle Tire) each had a goal and two assists, while freshmen Kayla Dion (Colchester, VT/Boston Shamrocks ) (two goals) and Lauren Patterson (Burlington, Ontario/Oakville) (two assists) each had two points… Junior Victoria Pelton (Sterling Heights, MI/Belle Tire) scored the only goal in Sunday's loss to the Cardinals, with Dion and Emily Coope (Phoenix, AZ/Colorado Tigers) picking up the assists.
 
NATIONAL RANKINGS: After the big win against Plattsburgh, the Pioneers were bumped up to No. 8 in the most recent D3hockey.com national rankings, matching the highest UC has ever been ranked in that poll… Utica is also 10^th in the USCHO.com poll, marking the first time this season that the Pioneers have cracked the top-10 in the USCHO rankings.
 
18 IS THE MAGIC NUMBER: Utica (16-6-1) needs two more wins to tie the single-season program record for wins in a season (18)… The Pioneers have not won 18 games in a season since 2007-08, when they reached the 18-win mark for the third year in a row. 
 
PLAYOFF PICTURE: UC is currently third place in the ECAC West Conference standings, three points behind nationally ranked No. 2 Elmira College, and three points ahead of Buffalo State… UC needs to get at least one tie against Buff State in order to secure third place in the conference… If the Pioneers sweep the Bengals AND Elmira loses both games to Oswego, UC will take second place in the conference and a bye into the semifinals, hosted at No. 1 Plattsburgh State… If Utica does not finish in second place in the conference, the Pioneers will host Oswego State, Cortland, or William Smith in the ECAC West Quarterfinals next week… IF UC hosts a first round game, playoff tickets will go on sale Monday morning at 10 a.m.  online and at the Utica Memorial Auditorium Box Office… Tickets will be $8 for adults and $4 for students with ID or children under 18. 
 
CLASS OF 2016: On Sunday, the Pioneers will honor their two seniors who are playing in their final regular season home game at Utica College… Morgan Reed (Fort Myers, FL/Cushing Academy) is the active scoring leader and just the fourth player in program history to score over 100 points in her career… She currently has 104 points on 51 goals and 53 assists in 104 games played… Janessa Haasbeek (Grand Forks, ND/Canadian International Hockey Academy) has led the Utica defense that has allowed just 1.6 goals against this season… She has suited up in 67 career games, and totaled 22 points (two goals, 20 assists). 
 
LEADING THE WAY: Junior Gabrielle Schnepp (Northville, MI/Belle Tire) leads the team with 39 points (12 goals, 27 assists) so far… She needs just one more assist to collect 50 in her career… She also needs just one more point to become the second player in the last nine years to reach 40 points in a season… She is tied for second nationally with 1.17 assists per game, and her 1.70 points per game rank sixth nationally.
 
IN GOOD COMPANY: Freshman Lauren Patterson (Burlington, Ontario/Oakville) is just the third player in program history to score at least 30 points as a freshman, joining All-Americans Deana Weigand '07 and Megan Myers '14… The Burlington, Ontario native added a pair of assists in the win over Plattsburgh to bump her season total to 31 points (10 goals, 21 assists)… She is currently tied for the national lead in scoring amongst rookies with 1.35 points per game.
 
HEATING UP: Freshman Kayla Dion (Colchester, VT/Boston Shamrocks ) was named the ECAC West Rookie of the Week and Dion also picked up a spot on the d3hockey.com national team of the week as she scored two goals in Utica's win Plattsburgh on Saturday...  Her first goal, a huge slap shot from the point, sparked the Pioneers' three-goal second period…  She capped off the day with a short-handed empty netter to secure the victory…  Dion also added an assist on UC's lone goal in a loss to the Cardinals on Sunday… She now has four points (three goals, one assist) in her last three games.
 
GOIN GRABS CONFERENCE HONORS: Junior Keira Goin (Dobbs Ferry, NY/Hotchkiss School) was named the ECAC West Goalie of the Week and also earned d3hockey.com team of the week honors after her impressive 55-save performance to backstop Utica to a win against Plattsburgh on Saturday… 55 saves is just one shy of the single-game program record set by Krystal Champagne against Colgate in 2002…  Goin is currently fifth nationally in save percentage (.951) and seventh in goals against average (1.35).
 
SCOUTING BUFFALO STATE: The Bengals are currently 17-6 overall and 11-5 in the conference… They are coming off a sweep of Cortland last weekend… Buff State is led by sophomore Erin Gehen, who has totaled 26 points (17 goals, nine assists) this season… Classmate Justine Silva has been solid in net as she holds a .947 save percentage and 1.48 goals against average in 21 games.
 
AGAINST THE BENGALS: Utica is 9-1-1 against Buffalo State in the last five years… Last year, UC tied and beat the Bengals in the regular season and then topped Buff State 4-1 in the first round of the ECAC West Conference Tournament… Morgan Reed (Fort Myers, FL/Cushing Academy) scored a hat trick in the quarterfinal game, while Carlie Smith (Grimsby, Ontario/St. Catharine's Chaos), Gabrielle Schnepp (Northville, MI/Belle Tire) and Victoria Pelton (Sterling Heights, MI/Belle Tire) each scored during the regular season meetings.
 
LOOKING AHEAD:  The Pioneers, who will be making their 14^th post-season appearance in the program's 15-year history, will wait to see who they will play in the first round of the conference tournament. 
 
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 and stats of all home games on Pioneers All-Access: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/utica/