The curtain rises on the eighteenth regular season for the No. 6/7 Utica College Men's Ice Hockey team this weekend as it hosts nationally ranked No. 3 Adrian College at the Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.  The two game non-conference set will be played on Friday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m., and Saturday Oct. 27 at 5 p.m. 

Get Your Tickets: Tickets to see the Pioneers are available through multiple methods. Fans can purchase tickets online at EmpireStateTix.com in advance of any UC home game. In addition, fans can purchase tickets at the Aud box office during regular business hours, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The box office is also open longer on game days for all of your walk up ticketing needs. Adult tickets are $8, Children are $4, Children aged three and under are free, and UC Students can obtain a free ticket with their valid student ID card at the box office.

Follow Along: Live video and stats for all UC Home Games are available at portal.stretchinternet.com/utica/. In addition, radio coverage of home games will be returning soon on WPNR 90.7 FM. Sports Information Assistant Ray Biggs '13 returns for his eighth year of play-by-play with the Pioneers on commercial or college radio, and will be mainly joined by UC students Mark Mitchell and Ryan Van Laere on the broadcasts this season. Fans can also view home games on the free Empire 8 apps available for Roku, Amazon Fire, and AppleTV.

Home Cooked: Including last weekend's exhibitions, this weekend's games are part of a six contest home stand to open up regular season play.

Behind the Bench: This season will be the eighteenth for the program, and it will also be the eighteenth for head coach Gary Heenan. The only head coach Utica men's hockey has ever known currently holds a career record of 245-160-43 behind the bench for the Pioneers in 17 seasons, and officially starts his quest for 250 career wins this weekend.

Last Time Out: In a battle of national powers and the top two scoring offenses nationally from last season, the Pioneers brought their firepower while largely extinguishing Endicott's, as they went on to win by an 8-0 score on Saturday, and a 5-1 win capped off the weekend on Sunday. The wins help to elevate the already high expectations and add confidence for the Pioneers, as Endicott's roster has posed a legitimate threat to win the national title in the last few seasons and made the 2017 NCAA tournament. The Gulls, using many of the same players they did this weekend, gave national finalist Trinity a run for its money before falling 2-1 in double overtime. Utica clamped down on last season's top scoring offense nationally with just one goal allowed in two days.

Saturday In Brief: On Saturday, the Pioneers weathered an early flurry from the Gulls, then went on to score twice before the end of the first period on goals by Shawn Lynch (Syracuse, NY/Ottawa Jr. Senators (CCHL)) and Liam Hunter (Norwood, ON/Kemptville 73's (CCHL)) to start the ball rolling on an eventual 8-0 rout. The Pioneer power play was on display twice in the second period, as UCHC Rookie of the Year Conor Landrigan (New Tripoli, PA/Binghamton Jr. Sens (NAHL)) picked up where he left off with two power play scores to double up the lead after 40 minutes. With the game well in hand, Utica kept the heat on anyway as captain Gregg Burmaster (Clinton, NY/Colorado College (NCHC)) scored twice, and Zach Borsoi (Brossard, Quebec/Gloucester (CCHL)) and Rome native JT Entelisano (Rome, NY/Markham Royals (OJHL)) did the rest with an insurance tally each as Utica rolled to the win. The Pioneers showcased a power play with the potential to be as good as last year's with a 3-for-10 clip on the extra man situation during the game, while the Gulls took 43 minutes in penalties. Endicott outshot Utica 40-39, but netminder Gianluca Baggetta (Maple, Ontario/North York (OJHL)) was more than up to the task as he produced a 40 save shutout. Burmaster set the pace up front for Utica with two goals and two assists, while the freshmen Entelisano, Hunter, Regen Cavanagh (Chesapeake, VA/Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)), and Justin Allen (Rochester, NY/Rochester Monarchs (USPHL-NCDC)) all enjoyed points in their debuts wearing a Utica uniform.

Sunday In Brief: Sunday's matchup had a different dynamic in its early stages.  Endicott grabbed hold of the game's opening goal on a high slot tally by Josh Bowes, but the Pioneers restored order from there with the next five scores as they won by a 5-1 score to deal the Gulls another lopsided defeat. A Brett Everson (Mississauga, Ontario/Hawkesbury (CCHL)) goal at 13:50 of the first period set the score back to even as the sophomore from Canada flushed a rebound created on a point feed from Joey Rutkowski (Rome, NY/Smiths Falls Bears (CCHL)). Utica broke the 1-1 first period tie on an early second period goal by Jarrod Fitzpatrick (Wakefield, MA/Northern Cyclones (EHL)), which ultimately stood as the game-winning goal for the night. Landrigan netted his third goal of the weekend to cap off the second period, and sophomore Vaden McManus (Fayetteville, NC/Hampton Roads (USPHL)) and freshman Eric Holland (Whitby, ON/Brockville Braves (CCHL)) each added their first goals wearing a Utica uniform in exhibition play to cap off the scoring in the third period. Holland had a three point outing with a goal and two assists, and Landrigan led the team with seven shots on goal. Baggetta wrapped up a strong weekend with a near-perfect outing as he turned away 24 Endicott shots. Utica finished 1-of-8 on the power play and outshot the Gulls 37-25.

Exhibition Excellence: Dating back to their last exhibition loss to the US Under 18 team in October of 2009, Utica is 5-0-1 in their six exhibition appearances since that loss. The Pioneers have defeated Endicott twice and also have a tie against the Gulls in 2017. Utica has also posted two wins against the US Under 18 team in December 2013 and January 2018, and an early season win in 2011 against the Royal Military College of Canada. The Pioneers are 7-1-2 in exhibition games in the history of their program with wins over the GMHL All-Stars and Queen's University, and a tie against Royal Military College preceding Utica's lone loss in exhibition play. Utica has won its last two meetings with the US Under-18 team, sending top NHL prospects like Jack Eichel, Dylan Larkin, Joel Farabee, Alex Tuch, and Jack Hughes to losses.
 
Mr. Exhibition: In four exhibition games for his collegiate career, Conor Landrigan (New Tripoli, PA/Binghamton Jr. Sens (NAHL)) has five goals to his name, and also has added two assists in a 3-0-1 run against exhibition opponents during his time at Utica.

Last Year Against Adrian: The Pioneers grabbed the lead on Roman Ammirato's (Williamstown, NJ/Union College (ECAC)) second period power play goal, but it was a short lived advantage. Adrian responded just over two minutes later on the fifth goal of the season by veteran forward Bryan Yim, then took the lead for good in the third period. Bulldog captain Mathew Thompson was the man of the hour in the third for Adrian when scored his tenth goal of the year on the power play for a 2-1 Adrian win at Arrington Ice Arena in Adrian, Michigan. Adrian outshot Utica in the game 41-34. The Pioneers were 1-for-4 on the power play in the matchup. Utica had it within a goal despite the absence of two notable players, as they played without All-American defenseman Dalton Carter (Toledo, OH/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) and current captain Gregg Burmaster (Clinton, NY/Colorado College (NCHC)) that night. The Adrian game last season also marked the Pioneer debut of defenseman and Rome, NY native Joey Rutkowski (Rome, NY/Smiths Falls Bears (CCHL)). Rutkowski jumped into the fold at midyear from Oswego State.

In The Polls: Utica has already gained ground in the national polls to begin this season. After wrapping up last year ranked ninth in both polls, the Pioneers start the year seventh in the USCHO Men's Top 15, and sixth in the D3hockey.com Men's Top 15.

The Chosen Ones: Utica was picked to repeat as champion in the UCHC men's preseason coaches' poll. The Pioneers scored 90 points and five first place votes to top second place Elmira, and third place Manhattanville. Four teams got first place votes in the balloting.

Watch This: Senior forward Gregg Burmaster (Clinton, NY/Colorado College (NCHC)), Sophomore forward Conor Landrigan (New Tripoli, PA/Binghamton Jr. Sens (NAHL)), and Junior defenseman Dan Fritz were all named to the UCHC Men's Preseason Player Watch List. The watch lists recognize a portion of top players from around the conference who may hold significant value to their team's on-ice success, as well as the potential to help continue shaping the landscape of the conference.

The Defending Champs: For the first time this season, Utica starts the campaign as a reigning postseason champion after winning the first conference postseason title in program history in March. Utica throttled Elmira 8-3 to claim the inaugural United Collegiate Hockey Conference championship, and double up on the squad's regular season championship. Utica has been the conference regular season champion in either the UCHC or the former ECAC West in each of the past two seasons, and has played for the conference postseason title in four of the last five years.

No Plans For Cooling Off: Utica finished last season 21-5-1, and 12-4-0 in UCHC play. Fueling the Utica cause was a terrific second half of the season on their way to claiming regular season and postseason UCHC crowns. The Pioneers went 11-3-1 in regular season and postseason games after January 1st, and one of those losses was to Adrian. The Pioneers beat the US Under-18 team for a second time in program history in an exhibition the day following their loss to the Bulldogs. The lineup for Team USA that night included the projected first overall pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, Jack Hughes. The Pioneers currently hold an active four game winning streak in the regular season and postseason, which also counts as the second longest unbeaten streak in all of Division III behind defending national champion St. Norbert, who is unbeaten in their last twelve.

Taking It To The Twine: Utica stood second in the nation in scoring offense in the 2017-18 season with an average of 4.93 goals per game. Utica lit up the school record book in goals per game, goals (133), total points(386), assists (253), shots on goal (1,091), shots per game (40.41), power play goals (40), and shorthanded goals (9).  The Pioneers are particularly well stocked at the wing positions, as their leading returning scorer is sophomore winger Conor Landrigan (New Tripoli, PA/Binghamton Jr. Sens (NAHL)), who had 14 goals and 13 assists for 27 points on the way to being named the UCHC Rookie of the Year. Burmaster's 26 points stand second among returners, and Jacob Gerson totaled eight goals and ten assists for eighteen points. Gerson's effort later netted him the team's Most Improved Player award at the end of last season. Senior Justin Derlago added 16 points last year on six goals and ten assists as a junior.

We Got The Power: Utica's power play unit had an earth shattering year in 2017-18, going 29.4 percent (40-of-136) with the extra man. That percentage ranked second in the nation and was by far a program record over the 21.3 percent mark from the 2010-11 season. The Pioneers were 4-for-18 with the extra man in their two exhibition games against Endicott.

Packing Them In: In 16 home dates in 2017-18, the Pioneers had a paid attendance of 53,941, marking the 12th consecutive year that Utica College has led Division III men's hockey in home attendance. Their average of 3,371 fans bested second place Oswego by 997 fans, and would have placed 23rd in Division I. Utica would rank second in the Division I ECAC Hockey League in attendance, and would also top Atlantic Hockey.  The Pioneers didn't let the home fans down last season, as they outscored opponents 89-29 en route to a 14-1-1 record at the Aud. Home ice advantage continued this past weekend with a 13-1 clip in two games against Endicott. The Pioneers had over 3,000 tickets spoken for at Saturday afternoon's exhibition.

Going Streaking: Landrigan holds an active four game goal scoring streak coming into this season, and Burmaster holds a point in each of his last four games as well dating back to the UCHC tournament last year. Both players have streaks extending to six games if you count the exhibition games against Endicott.

Once Upon A Time In The West: Utica does have a winning record against West region opposition all-time. From the start of the program through last season's game against Adrian, Utica is 3-2 against out-of-region competition in the 18 year history of the program and has never lost to an unranked Western opponent. Utica will meet a second Western team this season when they match up with St. Thomas on the first day of the Stevens Point holiday tournament, and could meet a third during the regular season if they meet nationally ranked UW-Stevens Point on the second day of that tournament. Utica has never lost to a West Region opponent at home.

Protecting the Goal Line: With All-Conference goaltender Patrik Virtanen (Vantaa, Finland/Lincoln (USHL)) not in the lineup to begin the season, Utica found an important sign of relief at the position in junior Gianluca Baggetta (Maple, Ontario/North York (OJHL)). Baggetta provided reassurance that the Pioneers' goaltending group will remain steady, and be as strong as ever when Virtanen returns. Baggetta allowed just one goal on 65 shots against Endicott this weekend. He is expected to get the start on Friday night. For his career, Baggetta has a 6-2-0 record, and was 6-1-0 with a goals against average of 1.40 last season.
 
Depth Matters: Utica was at its best last season in the final two periods. Utica only outscored their opponents by thirteen goals in the first period, a 27-14 margin. In the final two periods of regulation, the Pioneers throttled their opponents 105-41. The thin early margin didn't stop Utica from getting the jump on opponents anyway, as they scored first in 20 of 27 games and were 16-3-1 when doing so.

First Half Schedule Outlook: Following the second and third ever meetings against the Bulldogs, the Pioneers will have a quick turnaround to their UCHC opener as they host Manhattanville on Tuesday Oct. 30. Utica then settles into conference play by matching up against the three UCHC teams to beat them a year ago in a four game period. The Pioneers will take on Neumann at home on Nov. 3, and meet Lebanon Valley and Elmira on the road on Nov. 16 and 17. Utica will have a long journey on Thanksgiving week as it treks to Stevens Point, Wisconsin for the Stevens Point Holiday Tournament. Utica will play its second all-time meeting against St. Thomas, with NCAA tournament teams Nichols and UW-Stevens Point on the other side of the bracket. Conference games against Chatham, Stevenson, King's, and the first ever meeting with Wilkes wrap up the first half.

About the Bulldogs: No. 3 Adrian has been a longtime national power since their inception as a program in 2007, and have appeared in the last six NCAA tournaments as the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association's Harris Cup Champion, or an at-large. They opened the year with a special Saturday exhibition at Division I Princeton, and shocked the defending ECAC Champions with a 3-2 overtime win at Hobey Baker Rink. They were 24-6-0 last season under then fourth year head coach Adam Krug, the brother of star NHL defenseman Torrey Krug of the Boston Bruins. Krug is the second head coach in their history after current Princeton head coach Ron Fogarty. The Bulldogs reached the finals of the NCHA Harris Cup Playoffs, where they were unseated by eventual NCAA champion St. Norbert. Adrian lived to fight another day with an at-large selection into the NCAA tournament, where they received a quarterfinal bye. They lost in that round by a 5-2 score to Wisconsin-Stevens Point. The Bulldogs lost several key pieces off of that roster including their top three scorers in career 100 point forwards Taylor McCloy (24-14-38), Mathew Thompson (16-18-34), and Kyle Brothers (11-23-34, 151 career points).  That triumvirate combined on the game-winning goal when Adrian beat Utica last season. This season, the Bulldogs are led by three time All-American defenseman Cory Dunn. Dunn is one of the best returning presences on the offensive blue line nationally with 18 career goals and 79 career assists for 97 points. Up front, senior Trevor Boyd, a 2017 All-American, is the team's top returning forward with 17 goals and 11 assists last season. Junior transfer student Dino Balsamo had eight goals and twenty assists for 28 points. Goaltender Kevin Entmaa has 45 career wins in three years as the primary starter for Adrian. The Bulldogs had the fifth highest scoring offense in Division III last season at 4.37 goals per game, and were equally strong defensively at 1.80 goals against per game to also stand fifth. They were also a top ten team on special teams as they sported a strong power play at 24 percent, and the nation's seventh best penalty kill at 88.5 percent. While Adrian has never met Utica at the Aud, they are familiar with the building as they played as a semifinalist in the 2017 Division III Frozen Four hosted by Utica, where they lost 5-4 to eventual national champion Norwich in overtime.

Up Next: The No. 6/7 Pioneers won't have to look far before they open conference play, as they will host the Manhattanville Valiants on Tuesday. The UCHC opener starts at 7 p.m at the Aud. Last season, Utica swept Manhattanville by scores of 2-1 and 7-1. The Pioneers have won their last seven meetings with the Valiants.