UTICA, NY – The nationally-ranked No. 14 Utica College men's hockey team returns to the Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium on Friday and Saturday for a pair of non-conference games. The Pioneers will host Johnson & Wales at 7 p.m. on Friday before welcoming nationally-ranked No. 15 Salve Regina at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

Pioneers All-Access: Make sure to catch live video, audio and stats for all home games on Pioneers All-Access at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/utica/ … Audio is provided by Utica College's student radio, WPNR 90.7 FM.

Tickets: Individual home game tickets are on sale at the AUD ticket office or online at http://empirestatetix.com/  … Individual game tickets are $8 for adults and $4 for non-Utica College students … Online ticket purchases will incur a $3.50 processing fee per ticket. 

Last Time Out: The Pioneers netted a school-record 13 goals, snapped a two game slide, and cruised to a 13-1 victory over host Chatham University in United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) action on Saturday night … Anthony McVeigh (Kemptville, Ontario/Carleton Place (CCHL)) added four points on one goal and three assists … All 18 of Utica's skaters recorded at least one point on the afternoon.

Rookie of the Week: Utica freshman Conor Landrigan (New Tripoli, PA/Binghamton Jr. Sens (NAHL)) totaled a team-best and career-high five points on three goals and two assists as the Pioneers racked up a school-record 13 goals in Saturday's win over Chatham … His five goals this season are tied for fourth in the league ... He is also the top rookie scorer in the league with seven points (five goals, two assists).

Senior Leadership: Five of the Pioneers top seven scorers are seniors … Leading the way is Roman Ammirato (Williamstown, NJ/Union College (ECAC)) who is in his second season in the blue and orange after transferring in from Division I Union College at the beginning of last season … He is currently tied for tenth in the league with eight points (three goals, five assists) this season … Mikhail Bushinski (St. Paul, MN/Kenai River (NAHL)) is tied for second on the team with seven points (two goals/five assists), Dalton Carter (Toledo, OH/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) ranks fourth on the team with six points (three goals/three assists), while Anthony McVeigh (Kemptville, Ontario/Carleton Place (CCHL)) and Kevin Valenti (Queensbury, NY/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) are tied for fifth on the team with five points … Valenti and McVeigh are the program's active career leading scorers with 60 and 54 points, respectively.

Spreading the Wealth: 21 different Pioneers have at least one point this season … 20 of the 21 have two or more points.

Between the Pipes: Utica sophomore goalies Gianluca Baggetta (Maple, Ontario/North York (OJHL)) and Patrik Virtanen (Vantaa, Finland/Lincoln (USHL)) have seen the bulk of the minutes so far this season … Baggetta is 2-0 with a 1.50 goals against average and a .923 save percentage … Virtanen is 2-1 with a 3.00 GAA and a .907 save percentage. 

All-Time Against Johnson & Wales: Utica is 7-0 all-time against Johnson & Wales dating back to the Pioneers first year of Division III Hockey in 2001 … The last time these two teams met was on Nov. 7^th, 2008 as Utica came away with a convincing 8-1 victory … Bryce Dale and Tim Coffman each recorded one goal and two assists in the victory. 

Last Time Against Salve Regina: The last time the Pioneers hosted Salve Regina was back on Dec. 12^th, 2015 for a memorable New York Sash Teddy Bear Toss contest … Forward Joel Wetmore netted the coveted Teddy Bear Toss goal on a penalty shot for the first and only time in the history of the event as the Pioneers earned a 4-1 victory over the Seahawks in front of a sold out crowd at the Utica Memorial Auditorium ...  Wetmore finished the night with two goals to pace the Pioneers.

Against The Seahawks: The Pioneers are 4-0-0 all-time against Salve Regina … UC has outscored Salve 27-4 in the four previous meetings.