UTICA, NY - The Utica College men's hockey team will play a game west of Lake Michigan for the first time ever this weekend as they challenge a loaded field in the 2018 Ascension Stevens Point Holiday Tournament. The tournament, hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, will be held on Friday, Nov. 23 and Saturday, Nov. 24 at KB Willett Arena in downtown Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Utica will meet the University of St. Thomas on Friday at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time in the semifinal round. The consolation and championship games will be held on Saturday at 4:30 and 8:30 p.m. Eastern, respectively.

Here We Stand: The Pioneers are 3-4-0, and 3-2-0 in the United Collegiate Hockey Conference in advance of this week's matchups. Utica has dropped two of its last three games to start a five game road trip, with losses to Nazareth and Lebanon Valley on the road and a win over Elmira. Utica preceded that span with a 2-2 opening record at home with UCHC wins over Manhattanville and Neumann, and a pair of losses to Adrian in non-conference play.

Follow Along: Live video and stats will be available for all four tournament contests at portal.stretchinternet.com/uwsp/. Longtime Pioneers hockey voice and Sports Information Assistant Ray Biggs '13 will also make the trip to Wisconsin this weekend, and special online radio coverage will be available at http://www.mixlr.com/ucpioneers/. Veteran broadcasters Tom Weaver and Shaun McMahon from WDTX Wausau will broadcast all four games on Stevens Point's video webcast.

A Stacked Field: The tournament field this weekend has been widely regarded nationally as one of the strongest holiday tournament fields assembled for the 2018-19 season as all four teams are ranked or receiving votes in the D3hockey.com Men's Top 15 entering this weekend's action. The elephant in the room will be UW-Stevens Point, who is the current consensus No. 1 team in both national polls. Nichols received 19 votes this week, the top total outside of the top 15. The Pioneers received three votes after falling out of the rankings from the No. 15 spot last week, and St. Thomas received a single vote. Stevens Point and Nichols both went to last year's NCAA tournament, with the Pointers getting to the semifinal round.  Every team in the field has been to the NCAA tournament at least once in the last six years, and Stevens Point is the lone team in the tournament to have won the big prize as they capped off a string of three straight title game appearances with the 2016 national championship.

Against The Tournament Teams: Utica is undefeated against teams in this weekend's tournament in their 18-year history, with a 3-0 record against Nichols, and a 1-0 record against St. Thomas. Although they were the two principal teams in the NCAA tournament Pool B comparison last year, Utica and UW-Stevens Point have never met.

The Site: The KB Willett Arena is widely regarded as one of the top rinks in the West Region of Division III hockey. The arena seats 1,800 and is located approximately one mile off campus. The rink has been an NCAA quarterfinal site multiple times in recent years and hosted the 1990 Division III Championship. They stand eighth nationally in average attendance, a list that is currently topped by Utica's average of 3,371 fans.

The Road to Wisconsin: The Pioneers will be traveling to the Badger state on Thursday, and returning on Sunday. Approximately 983 road miles separate the Aud from KB Willett Arena. This will be the furthest from home that Utica has ever played a regular season contest. 

Against The West: Utica is 3-4 against the West Region all-time. Utica's wins have come against St. Thomas, St. John's and UW-Stout, all three of which came in holiday tournament play in Utica or Oswego. Three of the team's four losses against the West region have come to Adrian, with the remaining loss happening in the 2013 NCAA Division III semifinals against eventual national champion UW-Eau Claire. This will be only Utica's second appearance at a West Region site in the history of the program after last year's January trip to Adrian. The Pioneers could face two Western teams this weekend.

At Neutral Sites: Utica is undefeated in its last five neutral site games with a 3-0-2 record dating back to the 2013-14 season. Utica last played a neutral site game in a 4-1 win over Curry on January 6th, 2017 at the Oswego Pathfinder Classic.

Taking a Break: This weekend's matchups will snap a string of five consecutive UCHC conference games, and will be the first non-conference matchups for Utica since their opening weekend defeats against Adrian. Last season, Utica was 9-1-1 in out-of-conference games and were perfect against unranked non-conference opposition.

Sunday Summary: Utica outshot Lebanon Valley by a heavy 43-18 margin, but Tyler Perhac's 42 saves, a stingy penalty kill, and a spirit of opportunism propelled the host Dutchmen to a 6-1 victory at the GIANT Center in Hershey, Pa. Utica spotted a 3-0 hole to the Dutchmen before getting on the board on a Conor Landrigan (New Tripoli, PA/Binghamton Jr. Sens (NAHL)) goal in the second period. The Pioneers were unable to capitalize on that breakthrough as Lebanon Valley scored three more times to put the game away. LVC's Brian Hovanec had a hat trick for the Dutchmen. The Pioneers were 0-for-11 on the power play. Defenseman Zach Borsoi (Brossard, Quebec/Gloucester (CCHL)) had nine of Utica's 43 shots and Shawn Lynch (Syracuse, NY/Ottawa Jr. Senators (CCHL)) added an assist. Gianluca Baggetta (Maple, Ontario/North York (OJHL)) and Sean Dickson (Millbrae, CA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL-Premier)) had a difficult day in goal with a combined 12 saves on 18 shots. The LVC victory was their third in the all-time series, with Utica holding a 23-3 advantage.

Friday Findings: The Pioneers turned in a dominant performance in a rematch of last season's UCHC title game. They left little doubt by scoring early and often as they cruised to a 6-0 road win at Elmira's Murray Athletic Center. The win was Utica's first road win of the season. Defensemen Zach Borsoi (Brossard, Quebec/Gloucester (CCHL)) and Justin Allen (Rochester, NY/Rochester Monarchs (USPHL-NCDC)) quieted the crowd with a goal apiece in the first 6:34 to take a 2-0 lead after one period. Jacob Gerson (Colorado Springs, CO/Hampton Roads (USPHL)) and Tyler Dill (South Lake Tahoe, CA/Charlotte Rush (USPHL-Premier)) each scored to double the advantage to 4-0 after two periods, and Gerson's second goal and the fifth goal of the season for Regen Cavanagh (Chesapeake, VA/Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)) rounded out the scoring. Utica outshot Elmira 36-34 for the day. Gerson had two goals, while Cavanagh, Borsoi, and Dill each had one goal and one assist. Gianluca Baggetta (Maple, Ontario/North York (OJHL)) stopped 34 shots for his first shutout of the season in his return from an opening night injury. It was his third career shutout.

Eight is Great: The Pioneers are led in total points by a pair of underclassmen holding eight points apiece. Freshman Regen Cavanagh (Chesapeake, VA/Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)) has a team high five goals to go with three assists, and sophomore Josh Haskin (Troy, NY/P.A.L. Jr. Islanders (USPHL)) has a goal and seven assists.

Fabulous Freshmen: Three of the team's top six point getters at the outset of the campaign are freshmen. In addition to Cavanagh's eight points, rookie Eric Holland (Whitby, ON/Brockville Braves (CCHL)) has three goals and three assists while appearing in all seven games, and Tyler Dill (South Lake Tahoe, CA/Charlotte Rush (USPHL-Premier)) has three goals and two assists. All but two freshman skaters to appear in a game have at least one point.

Coffee Is For Closers: Regen Cavanagh (Chesapeake, VA/Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)) has also set himself apart this season with two game-winning goals. The scores came in back-to-back games a few weeks ago as he sealed the deal against Neumann and Manhattanville on his way to a UCHC Rookie of the Week nod on November 6th.

Gerson Back on Track: Jacob Gerson (Colorado Springs, CO/Hampton Roads (USPHL)) got his first two goals of the season in Friday's win after going without any points in his first four appearances of the campaign. The performance sets things back on track for the junior after his explosive sophomore campaign yielded eight goals and ten assists.

The One They Call Yaz: Freshman Nick Yzaguirre (Chicago, IL/Charlotte Rush (USPHL-Premier)) has a goal and an assist for two points in his first three games since jumping in following an early season injury.

Uncharted Territory: No player on Utica's active roster is from the state of Wisconsin, and the Badger State has appeared sparingly on the team's rosters all-time. Just two players in the history of the Utica College hockey program have been from Wisconsin.

Staying Out of It: The Pioneers are presently one of the nation's least penalized teams to start the season. Utica has taken an average of just 9.7 minutes in penalties in its first seven games, which is the ninth best mark in Division III.

Keeping Count: Utica ranks above the national average in scoring offense this season at 3.71 goals per game, which is good for sixteenth in the nation. Utica is 35th in the nation in scoring defense with 2.57 goals allowed per game.

Throw the Switch: Utica will be looking for answers this weekend for its skidding power play unit, which has had a difficult run to start the season. The Pioneers are just 3-of-37 to start the year, with two of those goals coming in the same game. The potential is there for Utica to get better quickly in that phase of the game, as last year's squad converted at a school record 29.4 percent.

When Shorthanded: Opponents have scored five power play goals in 31 chances against the Pioneers penalty kill unit this season. Utica has one shorthanded goal, which came off the stick of Gregg Burmaster (Clinton, NY/Colorado College (NCHC)) to open the scoring in an 8-1 thrashing of Neumann on November 3rd.

Jersey Auction Ongoing: As a reminder, The Utica College men's hockey team is joining forces with The Ride for Missing Children through their inaugural Ride Jersey Auction. The Pioneers are currently auctioning off their collector's edition "The Ride for Missing Children" game jerseys from now until November 30th when they host Stevenson University at 7 p.m. at The Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium. You can bid on a jersey by sending an e-mail to men's hockey Assistant Coach Nick Therrien (nitherri@utica.edu), with your name, address and amount you would like to bid. Fans can also bid on the jerseys on the day of the game at the rink beginning at 6 p.m. All proceeds will benefit the The Ride for Missing Children and The National Center For Missing & Exploited Children - NCMEC-NY/MV.

Against St. Thomas: Utica and St. Thomas met once previously on November 28, 2015 at the Aud. The Pioneers won the game 1-0 on a first period goal by Alex Roberts (Burnaby, British Columbia/Brooks Bandits (AJHL)), and were outshot by the Tommies 28-21.

Last Time Against Nichols: Utica and Nichols last met during Utica's NCAA semifinalist season in 2012-13, and the Bison were no match for the Pioneers that day as Utica topped their visitors by a 4-1 score in Utica. Ridge Garbutt led Utica with a goal and an assist in the matchup, and Nick Miglio (San Antonio, TX/Bismarck (NAHL)) got a penalty shot goal. Gordon Ceasar was the winning netminder. The win came in the midst of a six game winning streak for Utica.

About the Tommies: St. Thomas is 3-2-1 to begin the season under the guidance of ninth year head coach Jeff "Duke" Boeser. Boeser is a graduate of St. Thomas and was the last roster cut head coach Bob Johnson made for the 1976 US Olympic Team, 16 years after Herb Brooks was in the same position, and four years before the United States went on to do the unthinkable and win the gold in Lake Placid. This year's edition of the Tommies is led by Brett Gravelle (4-2-6) and Tanner Barnes (2-4-6), who each have a team-high six points. Freshman Luke Radetic is tied for the team lead with four goals. Senior Andrew Rohkohl is 2-2-1 in five starts in goal with a goals against average of 2.38. The St. Thomas power play has struggled at 9.5 percent, but the Tommies aren't allowing many power play chances to their opponents as one of the nation's least penalized teams. They are 2-0 in neutral site games to start the year with a pair of victories at the annual MIAC showcase. St. Thomas has not played a game since a November 10th loss to Stevens Point, and the Tommies have lost their last two games.

About the Bison: Nichols is 5-1 to start the year and have won their last two heading into their showdown with the No. 1 Pointers on Friday. They are coached by former St. Thomas assistant coach Parker Burgess. The reigning Commonwealth Coast Conference champions are paced by junior forward Vincent Crivello, who has three goals and nine assists for a team best twelve points. He is eighth in the nation in points per game, and fourth in assists per game. Matthew Menta and Petr Miko each have four goals and two assists each. Former West Genesee goaltender Henry Burns has split time in net with Brett Epp, and the tandem have combined for five wins and two shutouts.

About the Pointers: The five-time national champion UW-Stevens Point Pointers are undefeated at 6-0-2 under second year head coach Tyler Krueger, who is in his first season as the team's permanent head coach. The Pointers are allowing 1.75 goals per game, and are scoring 3.88 goals per game. Sophomore Zach Zech heads up the offense with three goals and five assists, and three others follow behind with seven points including All-American forward Tanner Karty. The Pointers' last game ended in a 1-1 tie with defending national champion and longtime Dairyland rival St. Norbert with both goals coming in the third period. The current roster has five members of the 2016 NCAA Championship team on it, and three members of the team were on Division I rosters at this time last year. Connor Ryckman has been off to a good start in goal at 6-0-1 with a goals against average of 1.70 goals per game.

Up Next: Utica will return home following the five-game road trip to meet UCHC rivals Stevenson and Chatham at the Aud on Friday, Nov. 30, and Saturday, Dec. 1 respectively. Saturday's game is the 14th annual New York SASH Teddy Bear Toss, and the sold out game against Chatham will be televised on WKTV Newschannel 2. Both matchups start at 7 p.m.