UTICA, NY - The nationally-ranked Utica College men's hockey team hits the road for the first time in the 2018-19 season as it visits UCHC rival Nazareth College on Friday, November 9th. Puck drop at the Bill Gray's Iceplex is slated for 7 p.m.

Follow Along: Live video with replay and live stats for the contest will be available at portal.stretchinternet.com/nazareth. For those who own a Roku, Amazon Fire, AppleTV or Android TV device, you can also find the game via the free Empire 8 conference apps available on your respective App Stores.

The Series: Friday will be the 19th all-time meeting between Utica and Nazareth. The Pioneers currently lead that series with wins in half of the eighteen meetings at 9-4-5. Gary Heenan's career record against Nazareth head coach George Roll stands at 9-5-5, with Roll grabbing an additional win during the last season of his tenure at Oswego during the 2002-03 season.
 

In the Polls: Utica dropped spots in both national polls despite winning both of their games this weekend. The Pioneers now sit ninth in the D3hockey.com poll, and fell to thirteenth in the USCHO Men's Top 15.

The Hunt Continues: UC Head Coach Gary Heenan now needs just three wins to hit 250 for his career.

Last Time Out: The Pioneers found themselves in a 1-1 tie early in the first period, but a close game transformed quickly into a rout as the Pioneers scored twice before the end of the opening frame, and pumped in four more goals throughout the balance of the evening to drop UCHC foe Neumann by an 8-1 score at the Aud. An early shorthanded goal by captain Gregg Burmaster (Clinton, NY/Colorado College (NCHC)) set the tone for a tremendous Special Teams night that included a 2-for-3 power play performance while limiting Neumann to 1-of-5 on the power play. Burmaster went on to add a third period insurance goal to score twice, while freshman Eric Holland (Whitby, ON/Brockville Braves (CCHL)) also scored twice and tacked on an assist. Defenseman Dan Fritz also had a great night with three assists and Josh Haskin (Troy, NY/P.A.L. Jr. Islanders (USPHL)) joined in with a goal and two assists for a three point night of his own. Utica outshot the Knights 44-26 on the night. Six different players led the plus minus for the Pioneers at +3, and thirteen different skaters had at least one point. The Pioneers are unbeaten in their last seven home games against their conference foes from Philadelphia.

It's Been Awhile: Utica does not have a player on its active roster who has lost to either Manhattanville or Neumann at home in their careers. The Pioneers have won eight straight games against the Valiants with the last loss coming in a November road game in 2015, and also hold their home winning streak against Neumann.

Save The Date: The 14th annual New York Sash Teddy Bear Toss will be on Saturday, December 1st against Chatham University. Tickets for the game are currently sold out, but the game will be televised by WKTV NewsChannel 2.

Stacked Chips: The Pioneers are currently outscoring opponents in UCHC play by a 13-2 margin, with the +11 total standing at the top of the UCHC.

Player of the Week: Sophomore forward Josh Haskin (Troy, NY/P.A.L. Jr. Islanders (USPHL)) was named the UCHC Co-Player of the Week on Tuesday after a highly productive week. The second year Pioneer was seemingly everywhere on Tuesday as he posted four assists on the team's five goals in Utica's 5-1 win over Manhattanville. He added a goal and two more assists in Saturday's win against Neumann for a one goal, six assist effort in two games. Haskin's seven points currently lead UCHC skaters in conference play.

Hey There, Rookies: Freshman forwards Eric Holland (Whitby, ON/Brockville Braves (CCHL)) and Regen Cavanagh (Chesapeake, VA/Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)) stand in a tie for second on the team with five points each after tremendous weeks to open UCHC play. The pair each recorded the first five points of their careers in the last two games with three goals and two assists each. Cavanagh also added two game-winning goals to pace the Pioneers and was named the UCHC Rookie of the Week. 

The Kids Are Alright: Of the 48 total points recorded by Utica in their first four games, 18 have come from the team's rookie skaters. Freshmen Regen Cavanagh (Chesapeake, VA/Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)), Eric Holland (Whitby, ON/Brockville Braves (CCHL)), Justin Allen (Rochester, NY/Rochester Monarchs (USPHL-NCDC)), Tyler Dill (South Lake Tahoe, CA/Charlotte Rush (USPHL-Premier)), JT Entelisano (Rome, NY/Markham Royals (OJHL)), and Brad Becker (Howell, NJ/Binghamton Jr. Senators (NA3HL)) have all recorded points this year, and they have accounted for 37.5 percent of the team's total points so far this season.

Burmaster Blasts It: Captain Gregg Burmaster (Clinton, NY/Colorado College (NCHC)) currently leads all Pioneers with four goals, and has already scored a goal this season at even strength, on the power play, and short handed. He has two special teams goals in four games and needs just one more to tie his 2017-18 total of three scores.

Back to Even: After a slow start on Special Teams, the Pioneers were able to even the special teams battle relative to their opponents for the season in Saturday's game. The Pioneers now have four goals on special teams, with one short handed goal and three power play goals, while they also have allowed four. The Pioneer power play ratcheted up to 15.8 percent and the penalty kill has been effective at a rate of 82.4 percent to begin the season, and both numbers remain volatile early in the season due to the small number of games.

Get Ahead, Stay Ahead: The Pioneers are currently 2-0 when leading after one period, and 0-2 when trailing or behind at the same point of the game.

Opportunism Matters: Through four games, the Pioneers are being narrowly outshot by an average of 2.2 shots per game to start the campaign. They have been the more opportunistic team despite that margin, as they are outscoring their opponents by two goals a game regardless.

A Huge Plus: Freshman defenseman Justin Allen (Rochester, NY/Rochester Monarchs (USPHL-NCDC)) leads all Utica defensemen in the plus-minus as a +5 for the season. Joey Rutkowski (Rome, NY/Smiths Falls Bears (CCHL)) and Cameron Bartkoski (Dallas, TX/Amarillo Bulls (NAHL)) are also in their first full seasons with the team and are each a +4.

In The Standings: Utica and Elmira currently set the bar for the UCHC standings with two wins and the accompanying six standings points each. Nazareth is in a three-way tie for third place after going to overtime in both games this weekend, and while their conference record is officially 0-0-2, they have two points from a shootout win, and one point from a three-on-three loss as part of the new UCHC overtime policy.

Looking Ahead: The Pioneers begin a high impact road stretch with Friday night's UCHC game, with two more huge games coming up next week. The Pioneers will be on the road again next week to meet Lebanon Valley and Elmira, which dealt Utica three of its four conference losses last year. The Pioneers will return to the site of two of those losses as they meet the Dutchmen on Friday at either Hersheypark Arena or the GIANT Center, and Elmira at the Murray Athletic Center on Saturday.