UTICA, NY – The nationally-ranked No. 10/14 Utica College men's hockey team returns to the ice at home this weekend as the Pioneers host Stevenson on Friday (7 p.m.) and Neumann on Saturday (7 p.m.) in United Collegiate Hockey Conference action at the Adirondack Bank Center. Friday night marks the annual AmeriCU Jersey Auction Night, while Saturday is the 13^th Annual New York Sash Teddy Bear Toss. 

AmeriCU Jersey Auction: The Pioneers will once again join forces with AmeriCU Credit Union to support the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund of CNY through their AmeriCU Jersey Night initiative … The Pioneers will auction off their collector's edition AmeriCU Carol M. Baldwin game jerseys on Friday night as they host Stevenson University at 7 p.m. … Performing the ceremonial puck drop will be actor, director and producer Daniel Baldwin … He is the second eldest of the four Baldwin brothers, all of whom are actors … Fans can bid on the jersey's on the day of the game at the Utica Memorial Auditorium beginning at 6 p.m. … The minimum bid for a jersey is $100 and fans can also purchase the jersey immediately for $300. Bidding must be made in increments of $5.

New York Sash Teddy Bear Toss: Saturday night's 13^th annual New York Sash Teddy Bear Toss is sold out for the seventh straight year, and it will be televised  locally on WKTV (NBC) … When Utica College scores its first goal, fans throw their stuffed animals onto the ice … Fans are asked to bring new and clean stuffed animals and all of the toys are collected by New York Sash and donated to a collaborative toy drive with partners Operation Sunshine and Toys for Tots … The 1st UC Teddy Bear Toss game was played on Dec. 6, 2005 against Hamilton. UC won 4-2 and 1,713 fans attended … Nearly 30,000 stuffed animals have been collected an distributed to local charities in the last 12 years through this event … 2015 was the first time the Pioneers used a penalty shot goal to ignite the Teddy Bear Toss, scored by senior captain Joel Wetmore … UC is 9-2-1 all-time in Teddy Bear Toss games … The Pioneers have scored the first goal in all but two TBT games … The fastest goal scored was in 2009 when Tim Coffman netted a goal 1:28 into the contest … Three different players have scored the Teddy Bear Toss goal twice. Colin Kingston (2005, 2006), Tim Coffman (2008, 2009) and Ridge Garbutt (2011, 2013) … No one on the current UC roster has scored the coveted Teddy Bear Toss goal.

On a Roll: The Pioneers have won five in a row and they are currently 8-2 overall and 4-2 in UCHC play this season following a weekend sweep of Manhattanville and King's … The Pioneers boast one of the top scoring offenses in the country and they currently rank third nationally with an average of 4.80 goals per game … The Pioneers defense is not to be overlooked as it ranks seventh nationally allowing an average of just 1.80 goals per game … Utica's penalty kill unit has been staunch all season, killing off 47 of 52 power-play opportunities.

National Polls: Utica is gaining ground in both the USCHO.com and D3hockey.com National Polls … Utica jumped four spots to No. 10 in this week's USHCO.com poll and they moved back into the top 15 after a two week hiatus and are ranked No. 14 in the latest D3hockey.com poll … Utica has made an appearance in the top 15 of the USCHO.com National Poll in all seven weeks this season, including nine consecutive polls dating back to February 27th of last season.

UCHC Player of the Week: Senior Roman Ammirato (Williamstown, NJ/Union College (ECAC)) was named the United Collegiate Hockey Conference Player of the Week, announced Tuesday … Ammirato totaled four goals in a 2-0 weekend for Utica … On Friday, he scored the game-winner in UC's 2-1 victory over Manhattanville … He followed that up with his first hat trick as a Pioneer, including a short-handed game-winner as UC topped Kings 6-1 on Saturday … On the season, he leads the team with eight goals and ranks second on the squad with 14 points.

In the National Spotlight: Utica senior Dalton Carter (Toledo, OH/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) ranks fourth nationally in points per game among defensemen as he leads the team with an average of 1.50 ppg … Freshman forward Conor Landrigan (New Tripoli, PA/Binghamton Jr. Sens (NAHL)), a two-time UCHC Rookie of the Week pick, ranks sixth nationally in rooking scoring with an average of 1.22 points per game.

Scoring in Bunches: Utica has outscored its opponents 33-4 over the course of its recent five game winning streak … 21 different players have at least one point this season … Mikhail Bushinski (St. Paul, MN/Kenai River (NAHL)) ranks third on the team with 12 points and he is tied for the team lead with nine assists … Senior forward Anthony McVeigh (Kemptville, Ontario/Carleton Place (CCHL)) is tied for fourth on the team with 11 points (three goals, eight assists), while senior Kevin Valenti (Queensbury, NY/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) has nine points on three goals and six assists. 

Solid Between the Pipes: The Pioneers have only allowed four goals in their last five games … Utica Patrick Virtanen is currently 4-1 this season and has a 2.20 goals against average to go along with a .932 save percentage … Sophomore classmate Gianluca Baggetta (Maple, Ontario/North York (OJHL)) is 3-0 this season with a 1.00 goals against average and a .939 save percentage.