UTICA, NY – The nationally-ranked No. 14 Utica College men's hockey team netted three short-handed goals and senior forward Roman Ammirato (Williamstown, NJ/Union College (ECAC)) posted his first hat-trick in the blue and orange as the host Pioneers skated to a convincing 6-1 victory over visiting King's College in United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) action on Saturday night.

Utica (8-2, 4-2 UCHC) has now won five straight games -- outscoring its opponents 33-4 over the course of the winning streak – and the Pioneers will return home next weekend when they host Stevenson at 7 p.m. Friday and Neumann at 7 p.m. on Saturday.  Saturday night marks the 13^th annual New York Sash Teddy Bear Toss, which is currently SOLD OUT and will be televised locally on a WKTV sister station.

Dalton Carter (Toledo, OH/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) and Zach Borsoi (Brossard, Quebec/Gloucester (CCHL)) each registered three assists on the afternoon. Carter remains the team leader with 15 points on the season (six goals, nine assists). Ammirato leads the team with eight goals and ranks second on the squad with 14 total points.

Ten different players scored at least one point for the Pioneers, including senior's Kevin Valenti (Queensbury, NY/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) and Brett Szajner (Novi, MI/Amarillo (NAHL)), who each posted one goal and one assist.

Valenti got things going for Utica 13:23 into the contest when he netted his third goal of the season, short-handed, after a beautiful pass from the defensive end from Zach Borsoi (Brossard, Quebec/Gloucester (CCHL)) that ricocheted off the far boards and right to the stick of the streaking Valenti.  King's (0-10, 0-6 UCHC) knotted the score at 1-1 with 38 seconds left on the first period clock when Nicholas Palumbo scored his third of the year, assisted by Tyler Wilding and Luciano Bucci.

Utica began to pull away with three second period goals. Ammirato's first of the night was short-handed and came at 5:37 of the period, assisted by Brett Everson (Mississauga, Ontario/Hawkesbury (CCHL)) and Borsoi. Szajner then netted his first of the season, assisted by Carter and freshman Conor Landrigan (New Tripoli, PA/Binghamton Jr. Sens (NAHL)), to give Utica a 3-1 lead with less than seven minutes go in the second period. Ammirato then added a power-play goal with nine seconds left in the second period to give UC a 4-1 advantage. 

The third period was all Utica as the Pioneers added another short-handed goal from Gregg Burmaster (Clinton, NY/Colorado College (NCHC)) at 6:24 to take a 5-1 lead.  Burmaster's goal was assisted by Mikhail Bushinski (St. Paul, MN/Kenai River (NAHL)) and Borsoi.

Ammirato then capped the scoring and sent the hat's flying onto the ice when he posted his third of the night, assisted by classmates Valenti and Carter, with 4:19 to go in regulation.

The Pioneers out shot the visitors 61-15 on the evening.  Utica goalie Henry Dill (Columbus, OH/UMASS (Hockey East)) got his second start of the season and picked up the victory, stopping 14 shots. Link French made 55 saves in net for the Monarchs.