UTICA, NY - The nationally ranked Utica College men's hockey team continues to hunt for its first conference road win of the season as it travels for a very important weekend set of games this weekend. The Pioneers will visit UCHC runner-up Elmira in a rematch of the 2018 UCHC Championship game on Friday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. at the Murray Athletic Center in Pine Valley, NY. The Pioneers will come home for one day, and then head to Hershey, Pa. on Sunday to match up with Lebanon Valley at 5 p.m. The latter game has had its venue changed from Hersheypark Arena to the current home of the AHL's Hershey Bears, the GIANT Center.

Note The Changes: The Pioneers were previously scheduled to play Elmira on Saturday at 3:00 PM, and Lebanon Valley on Friday at 7. Those plans have since changed due to an ongoing maintenance issue at HersheyPark Arena that has moved Lebanon Valley's games to the GIANT Center. Utica and travel partner Nazareth have flipped dates at Elmira for this weekend, with Utica now going to Elmira on Friday while their game against Lebanon Valley went from Friday to Sunday. Nazareth picked up an early Friday start time at Lebanon Valley to accommodate the changes.

The Series With Elmira: This will be the 52nd all time meeting between Utica and Elmira, who begin their eighteenth straight year meeting one another as conference rivals, a series that runs back to Utica's debut in 2001. Utica trails the all-time series with eighteen wins to Elmira's twenty seven, and the teams have tied six times. Utica has won four of the last six meetings.

The Series with Lebanon Valley: This will be the 26th all-time meeting between Utica and Lebanon Valley. The Pioneers are 3-1 in four meetings since Lebanon Valley's return to Division III hockey in the 2016-17 season. Utica is 2-0 at home against the Dutchmen in that time, and 1-0 on the road. In the all-time series, which previously ran from 2001 to 2010 before Lebanon Valley moved to the ACHA, the Pioneers currently lead the series 23-2 all-time. Both Lebanon Valley wins in the series have come in Hershey, and the Dutchmen have never beaten Utica at the Aud, with the Pioneers winning every meeting in Utica for the last 17 years dating back to the first ever win for the Pioneer men's hockey program on November 2nd, 2001 in front of 1,120 fans. Utica won 21 consecutive meetings from the start of the 2003-04 season to their last meeting of the 2016-17 season.

Follow Along: Live video and stats will be available for both contests this weekend. Live video and stats for the Elmira game can be found at portal.stretchinternet.com/elmira/, and live coverage options for the Lebanon Valley game can be found at http://www.godutchmen.com.

Last Time Out: The Pioneers rallied back from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits to grab hold of a tie score in the third period, but two late penalties would be their undoing as a late power play goal by Nazareth's David Powlowski led the Golden Flyers to a 4-3 win at the Bill Gray's Iceplex in Rochester. Powlowski and Justin Miller gave Nazareth a strong start as they both scored in the first 9:06 to post an advantage for the home team. The Pioneers slashed the deficit in half before the end of the period with the scoring coming from a new source. Freshman Nick Yzaguirre (Chicago, IL/Charlotte Rush (USPHL-Premier)) opened Utica's scoring with the first goal of his career in his collegiate debut to pull the Pioneers within one goal after twenty minutes of action. A Regen Cavanagh (Chesapeake, VA/Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)) even strength goal in the second pulled Utica back to even, but the Pioneers would fall behind again early in the third on an unassisted goal by Mateo Capriotti. Utica would not go away as Joey Rutkowski (Rome, NY/Smiths Falls Bears (CCHL)) nailed his first career regular season goal to the twine with just over seven minutes to go, but the late penalties ultimately sunk the team's effort on the road. Utica outshot the Golden Flyers 41-33, including a 21-9 margin in the second period. The Pioneers lead the all-time series against Naz at 9-5-5 after Friday's loss.

Here Comes The Rematch: The Pioneers defeated Elmira 8-3 last year to claim their first conference postseason championship in school history in the 2018 UCHC Championship game. Current captain Gregg Burmaster (Clinton, NY/Colorado College (NCHC)) added a goal and two assists as a junior forward en route to being named the UCHC tournament Most Valuable Player, and Conor Landrigan (New Tripoli, PA/Binghamton Jr. Sens (NAHL)) and Joey Rutkowski (Rome, NY/Smiths Falls Bears (CCHL)) each added a goal. The Pioneers went 5-of-7 on the power play and outshot Elmira 37-35 for their school record tying 21st win of the season.

On The Road Again: This weekend's games are the second and third of a five game road trip that wraps up with a trip to Wisconsin for two more games next week. The games this weekend also wrap up a string of five consecutive conference games.

In The Polls: Despite the loss over the weekend, the Pioneers did maintain some ground in the national rankings. Utica remained in the D3hockey.com Men's Top 15 in the No. 15 position after previously standing at No. 9. The Pioneers fell out of the USCHO ranking but received 8 votes.

Where We Stand: Utica sits in a tie for second place in the UCHC Standings with six standings points from their two wins under the conference's new point structure. Second place is quite congested at the moment as Utica sits in a five way tie in that position. Elmira is currently in first place with nine points, and both Lebanon Valley and the Soaring Eagles currently are among the teams in the top two positions, which presents Utica with an opportunity to create some major leverage in the standings for the long term. The Pioneers have outscored opponents 16-6 in UCHC games this season.

A Dish Best Served Cold: Last season, Utica won the UCHC regular season title. That title run was not without bumps in the road as Utica was tripped up four times in conference play. The Pioneers were beaten by Elmira both times during the regular season, and also lost to Lebanon Valley on the road. While the Pioneers later had the last word on Elmira with their UCHC title game win, this weekend presents an opportunity to return to the site of road losses to both teams and put a few hiccups from last year even further in the rear view mirror.

Get Ahead, Stay Ahead: The Pioneers are currently 2-0 when leading after one period, and 0-3 when trailing or behind at the same point of the game this season. The Pioneers are also 0-2 when allowing the opening goal, which makes it all the more important to get off to a fast start. Utica has outscored its opposition by a narrow 7-6 margin in the second period.

Hey, It's Cavernous In Here: With the Aud serving as the team's home rink, the Pioneers rarely play in a building larger than their own. The HersheyPark arena is one of the few venues in Division III that is bigger than the Aud is at 7,286 seats. The GIANT Center is even bigger than that with 10,500 seats. The GIANT Center is the second largest venue that the Pioneers have ever played a game in next to the Carrier Dome when Utica set a single game attendance record in the 2014-15 season. Utica has played in the GIANT Center before in the 2008-09 season. The Pioneers won that meeting 11-1, with current professional player and UC all-time leading point scorer Tim Coffman totaling five points and junior forward Aaron Jeffery tallying a hat trick.

The Most Sincere Form of Flattery: Friday's game at Elmira will feature a somewhat familiar sight for Pioneer fans as Elmira is holding its second annual Teddy Bear Toss in conjunction with Friday's game. 395 bears were collected after a goal by defenseman Spencer Carter last year in a game between Elmira and Lebanon Valley. Utica's very successful Teddy Bear toss has inspired other teams to take up the cause of donating to area children during the Holiday Season since the Pioneers began doing the event. Several other Division III teams have begun doing one recently, and others like the AHL's Syracuse Crunch have also gotten involved in giving back to the community in the same fashion. The fourteenth annual New York Sash Teddy Bear Toss will take place on Saturday, December 1st as the Pioneers host UCHC rival Chatham in the third ever meeting between the teams. The matchup is sold out and will be televised on WKTV NewsChannel 2.

He's Not Haskin You, He's Tellin You: With his second period assist, sophomore forward Josh Haskin (Troy, NY/P.A.L. Jr. Islanders (USPHL)) now has eight points for the season on a goal and seven assists. Impressively, he has totaled all eight points in the last three games, and has matched his point output for the 21 games he played in last season already. Haskin, who was the UCHC Player of the Week last week, has numbers that stack up extremely well nationally. He is seventh in the nation at 2.00 points per game, and third in the nation at 1.75 assists per game. In conference play alone, Haskin is tied for the conference lead with eight total points, and leads all UCHC players in league play with seven assists.

Lighting It Up: Senior captain Gregg Burmaster (Clinton, NY/Colorado College (NCHC)) and freshman forward Regen Cavanagh (Chesapeake, VA/Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)) currently set the team pace with four goals apiece through five games. That number stands out on the national leaderboard as the pair sit in a tie for 25th among all scorers in Division III at 0.80 goals per game. Cavanagh is also thirteenth in the nation among freshmen in points per game at 1.20 total points per matchup, as the rookie has four goals and two assists. His six points are second best on the squad behind Haskin. Utica is tied for sixteenth in the nation in scoring offense as their 3.80 goals per game sit in a four way tie in a group that includes Lebanon Valley. Cavanagh is tied for the conference lead in goal scoring across UCHC play with four scores in the team's three conference games.

We're Going Streaking: Josh Haskin (Troy, NY/P.A.L. Jr. Islanders (USPHL)), Regen Cavanagh (Chesapeake, VA/Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)), and Joey Rutkowski (Rome, NY/Smiths Falls Bears (CCHL)) will all carry three game point streaks into this weekend's games. The three game run represents the longest active streaks on the team.

Far From On The Fritz: Second year defenseman Daniel Fritz (Harwood, MD/Canisius College (Atlantic Hockey)) has put his teammates in position to make plays repeatedly so far this season with four assists on the team's 19 goals. He is 77th in the country overall in assists per game. He has appeared in 31 of 32 possible games since coming to Utica.

Not A Bad Start: In addition to his first career collegiate goal, Nick Yzaguirre (Chicago, IL/Charlotte Rush (USPHL-Premier)) had a great night on the plus/minus on Friday as he was a team best +2.

Straight Outta Brockville: Freshman Eric Holland (Whitby, ON/Brockville Braves (CCHL)) has also been a firm contributor in his freshman campaign as he has posted five points in five games. His point a game contribution ranks 17th among rookies nationally.

Getting Everyone Involved: With Yzaguirre's debut, all but two players on the current Utica roster have played in at least one game this season. Freshman Joey Savel (Sterling Heights, MI/Philadelphia Little Flyers (EHL)) may debut by the end of the season after recovering from an injury sustained in the preseason, and goaltender Ethan Siderine (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) was only recently brought up to the active roster. Eighteen skaters for Utica have a point this season, and ten of them have a goal to their credit.

We Need More Power: Utica has just three power play goals in 23 opportunities this season, and were held off the board with that unit in the loss to Nazareth on Friday. Eric Holland (Whitby, ON/Brockville Braves (CCHL)), Gregg Burmaster (Clinton, NY/Colorado College (NCHC)), and Conor Landrigan (New Tripoli, PA/Binghamton Jr. Sens (NAHL)) have one power play goal apiece. The Pioneers are converting currently at just 13 percent, and two of the team's three man advantage goals came in a win over Neumann on Saturday, Nov. 3. The opportunity may be ripe for another huge performance on Friday against Elmira. The Pioneers dismantled the Soaring Eagles penalty kill at a 5-for-7 clip en route to their 8-3 win in last year's UCHC title game, and Elmira is only killing at around 78 percent so far.

Shut It Down: The Pioneers have allowed four power play goals on 23 opposing chances this season, and sit in the middle of the pack nationally at 36th on the penalty kill at 82.6 percent.

I Am Iron Man: Thirteen players have appeared in all five games to start the season for Utica. Senior defenseman Zach Borsoi (Brossard, Quebec/Gloucester (CCHL)) has not missed a game to this point in his career with 86 consecutive games played.

In Goal: Freshman Sean Dickson (Millbrae, CA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL-Premier)) has gotten the start in the team's last four games since entering for an injured Gianluca Baggetta (Maple, Ontario/North York (OJHL)) in the final five minutes of the opener against Adrian. He won two of his first three starts with a loss to Adrian and wins over Neumann and Manhattanville before his record evened up in Friday's loss to Nazareth. For the campaign, Dickson is 2-2 with a 2.19 goals against average and a save percentage of 93.0 percent. Dickson has collected valuable experience amidst the burden he's had to carry early in the season, as he has played the third most minutes of any freshman goaltender in the country. He has the second best save percentage of any freshman goaltender to play at least 33 percent of his team's minutes in the nation. In additional good news for Utica, Baggetta has dressed for the last two games and is inching closer to an imminent return to action. Baggetta dazzled in the team's two exhibition wins over Endicott with a total of 64 saves, and withstood heavy fire in goal with a 36 save performance on 38 shots to keep Utica in a 2-1 game against current No. 2 Adrian at the time of his exit in the opener.

Scouting Elmira: The first place Soaring Eagles currently sit in first place in the UCHC with nine points. They are 4-3 for the season, and 3-1 in the United Collegiate Hockey Conference with wins over King's, Wilkes, and Neumann. Those losses combined with a non-league win over Potsdam that was snapped in the team's most recent game, a 6-2 setback at Manhattanville. The Soaring Eagles are led by one of the most productive scoring lines in the nation with the Junior combo of Connor Powell (7-5-12), Nick Ford (4-7-11), and Matthew Cuce (4-8-12) continuing to be as explosive as ever through seven games. All three skaters were at 39 points or above last season to rank highly on the national leaderboard, with Ford's 50 total points on 25 goals and 25 assists good enough to land him First Team All-American honors alongside Utica's Roman Ammirato (Williamstown, NJ/Union College (ECAC)). Ford was second nationally in points per game and goals per game. This season, Elmira currently stands eighth in the nation on the power play at just over 27 percent, and Powell and Ford each have three power play goals apiece. Cuce is currently on a seven game point streak to start the year. Defenseman Ryan Blais is another player to watch for the Soaring Eagles after earning UCHC all-rookie recognition last year. He has eight points this season and ranks seventh nationally in blue line scoring per game. Gennaro Anzevino has appeared in five games in goal for Elmira, and Jake Sabourin has appeared in three.

Scouting Lebanon Valley: The Dutchmen are tied for second place with six points in their third season of their second Division III stint under minor league playing legend Don Parsons. Lebanon Valley holds an overall record of 2-1-2, and they are 1-0-2 in the UCHC. They are coming off a pair of conference ties in which they earned three points total. They won the 3-on-3 session against Manhattanville in a 2-2 tie to pick up two points, and lost a 3-on-3 session against Neumann in a 4-4 tie to settle for one point. They have wins over Morrisville and King's and are currently unbeaten at 1-0-1 at the GIANT Center. 2018 All-Conference selection Brett Johnson leads the Dutchmen at forward with nine points, and former Oswego State player TJ Sneath currently has seven points. In goal, freshman Nick Sorgio has been their best option thus far at 1-0-2 in three appearances with a goals against average of 1.90 and a save percentage of 94 percent even. He is backed up by veteran Tyler Perhac and freshman Matt Forslund, who have each appeared in one game. Forslund is the son of Carolina Hurricanes and NHL on NBC play-by-play man John Forslund.

Up Next: After this weekend's conference set, the Pioneers will head to the West region for the second time in program history, and their first time west of Lake Michigan as they journey to Central Wisconsin for the 2018 Stevens Point Holiday Tournament on Nov. 23 and 24. The Pioneers will play the University of St. Thomas (Mn.) for the second time in program history in a game that begins at 4:30 PM Eastern on Friday. Utica last met the Tommies on November 28th, 2015 in a 1-0 win to claim the crown at the Radisson Thanksgiving Showcase at the Aud. On the other side of the bracket awaits a stern test no matter what happens on Friday. 2016 National Champion and current consensus No. 1 UW-Stevens Point meets defending Commonwealth Coast Conference champion Nichols in the other semifinal. Both teams were NCAA tournament teams in 2018.