UTICA, NY- The Utica College men's hockey team hits the road this weekend for two ECAC West Conference games.  Utica will first travel to Owings Mills, MD on Friday to faceoff against the Stevenson Mustangs at 7 p.m.  The team will then go to Annville, PA on Saturday to play the Lebanon Valley Dutchmen at 5 p.m. 
 
Last Time Out: Last Saturday night, the Pioneers erased a 2-0 deficit to beat nationally ranked No. 3/5 Hobart College 3-2 and win their fifth game in a row… Utica junior Roman Ammirato (Williamstown, NJ/Union College (ECAC)) and freshman Jarrod Fitzpatrick (Wakefield, MA/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) each scored a goal in the second period, to tie the game at two...  Sophomore forward Shawn Lynch (Syracuse, NY/Ottawa Jr. Senators (CCHL)) scored the game-winner with 7:50 remaining in the third… Freshman goalie Patrik Virtanen (Vantaa, Finland/Lincoln (USHL)) got his tenth win of the season after stopping 30 shots against the Statesmen. 
 
In The National Polls: After beating Elmira and Hobart, the Pioneers have moved up to No. 13 in D3hockey.com Men's Top 15 National Poll this week…  Utica also received six votes in the latest USCHO.com Division III Men's Poll.
 
Heating Up: UC has won its last five games, four of which were conference contests… This marks Utica's second longest winning streak of the season, after the Pioneers opened the year on an 8-0 run. 
 
Conference Standings: The Pioneers are currently first in the ECAC West Conference standings with a 10-1 mark in league play… Utica is four points ahead of second place Manhattanville and six points ahead of Hobart College… UC can clinch the regular season championship and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament with at least one win this weekend. 
 
Top Performing Player: Junior Roman Ammirato (Williamstown, NJ/Union College (ECAC)) is still the biggest asset for the Pioneers this season… He leads the team in goals (11), assists (18), and points (29)… He is tied for third in the ECAC West in points and fourth in assists.
 
Fitzpatrick Named Rookie of the Week: Freshman Jarrod Fitzpatrick (Wakefield, MA/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) was named the ECAC Men's West Conference Rookie of the Week as well as Utica College's Male Athlete of the Week after scoring two goals and recording one assist against Elmira and Hobart… He netted the game's opening goal in the Pioneers 2-1 victory over Elmira last Friday… He then scored the game-tying goal in the second period and assisted on the game-winner in the Pioneers 3-2 victory over Hobart on Saturday. 
 
Top Performing Goalie: Freshman Patrik Virtanen (Vantaa, Finland/Lincoln (USHL)) recorded a total of 60 saves in the two wins last weekend, earning him coneference Goalie of the Week accolades… He is now 10-4 on the year and has stopped a team-high 365 shots this season… Virtanen ranks second in the conference with a 2.54 goals against average and his .915 save percentage is fourth in the league standings. 

Offensive and Defensive Performance: Utica ranks second in the ECAC West in scoring… The Pioneers have scored 83 goals this season for an average of 3.77 goals per game… The Pioneers are also second in the conference in scoring defense, allowing just 2.77 goals against per game. 
 
Scouting Stevenson University: The Mustangs are 9-11-2 overall and 4-7-1 in the ECAC West… Stevenson lost its third straight game on the road against Manhattanville, 5-4, last Saturday… Stevenson erased a three-goal deficit but the Valiants scored the game-winning goal with just 38.7 seconds left in the third period… Despite the loss, Stevenson junior Mike Davis recorded his fourth multi-point game after scoring a team-high two goals against Manhattanville…  Davis has recorded a team-leading 10 goals and 13 assists… He is also tied for first in the conference in game-winning goals (three)… Junior goalie Jacob Caffrey has played the most games for the Mustangs this season (19)… He is 7-9-2 and boasts a .912 save percentage and 3.22 goals against average. 
 
Against the Mustangs: Utica topped Stevenson 4-2 in the previous meeting between the two teams this season… Sophomore Alex Roberts (Burnaby, British Columbia/Brooks Bandits (AJHL)) and juniors Mikhail Bushinski (Woodbury, MN/Kenai River (NAHL)), Riley Egan (Lakewood, OH/Philadelphia (EHL)), and Roman Ammirato (Williamstown, NJ/Union College (ECAC)) each scored a goal for Utica in the victory.  
 
Scouting Lebanon Valley: The Lebanon Valley Dutchmen are 4-16-2 overall and 1-10-1 in the ECAC West… The Dutchmen are coming off a 3-1 road win at Neumann University last Saturday…  Sophomores Nick Skerlick, Travis Acker, and graduate PJ Hefferin each scored one goal in the Dutchmen's victory… Freshman Cole Hepler leads the team in points (30) and goals scored (14) this season, while sophomore Brad Nolan has recorded a team-best 19 assists.
 
Against the Dutchmen: Utica came away with a 4-1 win against Lebanon Valley earlier this season… Easton Powers (South Lyon, MI/Port Huron (NAHL)) led the way with two goals, while Roman Ammirato (Williamstown, NJ/Union College (ECAC)) had one goal and one assist, and Kevin Kirisits (Buffalo, NY/Brockville (CCHL)) netted the other Utica tally.
 
Looking Ahead: The Pioneers will wrap up the 2016-17 regular season at home next Friday against conference foe, Nazareth College… Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.