UTICA, NY - The Utica College men's ice hockey team officially opens the regular season on Saturday, November 2nd. After two preseason games, the nineteenth regular season of Pioneer hockey gets underway as Utica hosts SUNY Canton in a non-conference game. The game will begin at a special start time of 2 p.m.

AMERICU Jersey Night: The Utica College men's hockey team will once again join forces with AmeriCU Credit Union to support the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund of CNY through their AmeriCU Jersey Night initiative. The Pioneers are currently auctioning off their collector's edition AmeriCU/Carol M. Baldwin game jerseys from now until November 2nd when they host SUNY Canton at 2 p.m. You can bid on a jersey by sending an e-mail to ucjerseyauctions@gmail.com  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 Utica Memorial Auditorium beginning at 6 p.m. All proceeds will benefit the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund of CNY.

Welcome, Scouts: The Pioneers will host a large contingent of Boy Scouts from the Boy Scouts of America's Leatherstocking Council this weekend. Over 500 scouts from area troops are expected to attend Saturday's game, with a National Anthem performance by BSA bugler Aidan West.

Leader of the Peloton: Utica Head Coach Gary Heenan is participating in the first annual CycleNation Utica event to help take control of brain and heart health. Coach Heenan will be a celebrity cycler at the event beginning at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 7 at Thrive Athletic Center in New Hartford.  Visit www.cyclenation.org/utica for more information and to donate to the cause.  All proceeds from Saturday's Chuck-a-puck sales will be donated to the American Heart Association.

Follow Along: Saturday's game can be followed via live video and stats at portal.stretchinternet.com/utica. The game can also be found on local radio at WPNR 90.7 FM on the dial and online at PioneerRadio.org. Sports Information Assistant Ray Biggs'13 returns for a ninth season of UC Hockey play-by-play on commercial or non-commercial radio, and will be joined on the broadcast by Utica College student Ryan VanLeare on Saturday. Live video of games hosted by Utica, Elmira, and Nazareth this season can also be seen via the free Empire 8 Conference Apps available on AppleTV, Amazon Fire, and Roku.

A Check of the Time: Fans are reminded that this game will begin at a special start time of 2 p.m. on Saturday. This is one of two scheduled afternoon home games for the Pioneers this season, with the other being against Manhattanville in January. All other UC home games are scheduled for 7 p.m.

Last Chance For Teddy Bear Toss Tickets: As of the time of this writing, only two tickets remain for the annual New York SASH Teddy Bear Toss on December 14th. While you may be able to win tickets from some of our sponsors throughout the community, this is your last opportunity to guarantee yourself a seat at one of the area's best holiday traditions.

Where We Stand: The Pioneers enter the regular season with a clean slate after splitting a pair of non-conference games. The Pioneers doused Morrisville 7-1 in their preseason opener played at Kennedy Arena on October 19th, and lost to the University of New England by a 4-2 score on Saturday, October 27th in their first appearance of the year at the Aud.

In The Polls: Utica ended last season nationally ranked, and the trend continues to open this season as the polls were released on Monday. The Pioneers ranked 13th in the first USCHO Men's Top 15 of the season. They moved up one spot from their year-end position of 14th, and rank as the top UCHC team just ahead of the defending champions from No. 14 Manhattanville.

The People Have Spoken: The Pioneers have been chosen as the UCHC's preseason favorite for a third straight year, as Utica topped the annual UCHC Preseason Coaches' Poll released on Monday. The team received seven of the available first place votes.

On Our Watch: Defenseman Daniel Fritz (Harwood, MD/Canisius College (Atlantic Hockey)), Forward Brett Everson (Mississauga, Ontario/Hawkesbury (CCHL)), and Goaltender Gianluca Baggetta (Maple, Ontario/North York (OJHL)) have been named to the UCHC Preseason Player Watch List, as released on Monday by the conference office. Fritz tied for the second best offensive season by a defenseman in school history with 26 points on four goals and 22 assists. He wrapped up the 2019 preseason with a goal and assist in two games. Everson had a dynamic sophomore season with five goals and 20 assists to rank as the team's second best returning scorer. Baggetta, the UCHC Goaltender of the Year, had arguably the best single season goaltending performance in school history last year. The graduate student had a 16-4-2 record last year while stopping 94.1 percent of pucks thrown his way and turning in a goals allowed average of 1.76.

Last Time Out: The No. 13 Pioneers darted out to a 2-0 lead after one period, but No. 9 University of New England leveraged its special teams might with a plus-two advantage in goals scored not at even strength, and the Nor'Easters rattled off four unanswered goals to top the Pioneers 4-2. Daniel Fritz (Harwood, MD/Canisius College (Atlantic Hockey)) scored the game's first goal, and added an assist on the team's second goal scored by freshman John Moncovich (Wilmington, NC/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)). Moncovich also had a multi-point night with an assist on the Fritz goal. Kasper Kjellkvist (Vaxjo, Sweden/Curry College (Commonwealth Coast Conf.)) and Dante Zapata (Huntington Beach, CA/Austin Bruins (NAHL)) each had an assist, and Gianluca Baggetta (Maple, Ontario/North York (OJHL)) made 28 saves in goal for Utica. The Pioneers were 1-for-8 on the power play, while the Nor'easters were 2-of-7 and added a short handed goal to win the battle on special teams. The Pioneers outshot the Nor'easters 40-32 with visiting netminder Ben Churchfield making 38 saves to snag the win. Defenseman Chris Jones had two goals for UNE.

Series History: This will be the first-ever meeting between the Pioneers and Roos. The opponent has a very short history at this level. SUNY Canton has only had Ice Hockey as an NCAA level varsity sport since the 2012-13 season, but was a noted ACHA and NJCAA power before making the move into the NCAA ranks. They won fifteen NJCAA National Championships while competing in two-year college athletics competition.

Protect This House: The Pioneers have not lost in their last eleven regular season games to be played in the confines of the Aud. They have not dropped a regular season game in the building in over a calendar year, as their last home regular season loss was to Adrian College on October 27th, 2018. Utica was 13-3-1 at home a season ago, and were a polished 8-0-1 in regular season conference play at the Aud. They are 15-0-1 in the last two seasons in home conference regular season games while playing in front of Division III's finest fanbase.

Firing The First Shot: Utica scored the first goal in both of their preseason games. The Pioneers are 33-5-2 in the last two seasons in the regular season and postseason when scoring first.

Quick On The Draw: Of the 79 faceoffs contested in last Saturday's game, the Pioneers won 51 of them while limiting the University of New England to just 28. Josh Haskin (Troy, NY/P.A.L. Jr. Islanders (USPHL)) was 11-of-14 in a solid performance after leading the Pioneers with 254 faceoffs won a season ago. Freshman Dante Zapata (Huntington Beach, CA/Austin Bruins (NAHL)) won 10-of-12 and brings a lot of experience after logging big minutes up front with the NAHL's Austin Bruins.

Preseason Power Plays: The Pioneer power play units had thirteen appearances in their two preseason games, and scored a total of three times. The team was 1-of-8 against the University of New England, and 2-of-5 against Morrisville. The Pioneers held Morrisville to 0-for-7, but the University of New England netted a pair of goals on seven opportunities of their own.

Non-Conference Notes: The Pioneers were 6-4-1 in non-conference games while playing a challenging schedule last season. They outscored opponents 34-26 in those games while playing half of them against teams ranked or receiving votes to start the season in this year's poll. The Pioneers are scheduled to play Canton, Morrisville, Adrian, Oswego, and Plymouth State. They will meet Salve Regina, or have a second meeting with Oswego on the second day of the returning Utica College Thanksgiving Showcase to be held on November 29th and 30th.

The Road Ahead: After Saturday's game against Canton, the Pioneers will dive right in for conference play the following weekend. The Pioneers meet Manhattanville in a rematch of the UCHC Championship in Rye, NY on Friday, November 8th, and will go in search of payback for last season's road loss to Neumann on Saturday, November 9th in Aston, Pennsylvania. Utica then returns home for the rest of November with games against Nazareth, Lebanon Valley, Elmira, and the two-day Utica Thanksgiving Showcase. 

On A Roll: While being the team's top returning scorer, defenseman Daniel Fritz (Harwood, MD/Canisius College (Atlantic Hockey)) will also look to extend a point streak dating back to last season. Not including the preseason games this year, Fritz has recorded a point in five straight regular season and postseason games, a streak that spans the entire 2018-19 postseason. He had two goals and four assists in four postseason games last year, and was named to the UCHC All-Tournament Team. Last year, Fritz totaled 26 points on four goals and 22 assists, and caused a team-high 68 turnovers on the defensive side of things. He finished last season as a +17 skater.


Being John Moncovich (Wilmington, NC/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)): Freshman forward John Moncovich (Wilmington, NC/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)) has been quick to make an impact in advance of his first regular season game. The rookie had a goal and an assist in the team's most recent preseason game against the University of New England, and had a would-be goal in the team's first preseason game erased by a two many men on the ice penalty. He had 52 points on 31 goals and 21 assists last season with the Hampton Roads Whalers of the USPHL Premier Division, and spent five years with the Whalers alongside a few brief stints in the North American Hockey League. He won back-to-back USPHL Premier Championships to close out his junior hockey career.

Mr. Game-Winner: Sophomore forward Regen Cavanagh (Chesapeake, VA/Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)) returned to the lineup on Saturday for his first appearance since a midseason injury shut down the tail end of his Freshman campaign. Cavanagh scored a team-leading three game-winning goals a season ago, and totaled fourteen points on eight goals and six assists on his way to the UCHC All-Rookie team in just eighteen appearances.

The Landy Man Can: Junior Conor Landrigan (New Tripoli, PA/Binghamton Jr. Sens (NAHL)) ranks as Utica's top returning goal scorer after a 10 goal campaign last year. He has 24 goals in two seasons. He led all returning Pioneer skaters in shots last season with 81.

Experience Matters: Senior captain Jarrod Fitzpatrick (Wakefield, MA/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) leads the Pioneers in career games played at Utica with 58 in total. He recorded 67 hits last season to go with six goals and five assists for eleven points. Joey Rutkowski (Rome, NY/Smiths Falls Bears (CCHL)) leads all Pioneers in career collegiate games played as he hit 60 for his career in last year's UCHC Championship, but over 20 of those came during his time at Oswego State.

Alumni Trade Alert: Recent graduate and 2018 UCHC Player of the Year Roman Ammirato (Williamstown, NJ/Union College (ECAC)) has been traded between teams in the ECHL. He was swapped from the Greenville Swamp Rabbits to the Norfolk Admirals in a trade earlier this week. He has five points in four games with Greenville this season, and had a tremendous first full professional season with the Tulsa Oilers last year.

About The Roos: Canton won a program record fourteen games last year while going 14-9-2. Last year's team was led by graduated senior Joe Deveney, who had 10 goals and 11 assists for 21 points. The Roos also sported a connection to the Pioneers last season in the form of graduated senior Marcus Baird, the brother of Pioneer Hall of Famer Mike Baird. The Kangaroos play as an independent without a conference affiliation. Sophomore Sean David is the team's leading returning scorer after a 10 goal, 10 assist season last year. Senior Michael Cerasuolo is expected to get the start on Saturday in goal, and has accumulated a 91.1 percent save percentage and a goals allowed average of 2.84. The Roos' biggest strength could be its power play, which clicked at an even 22 percent with 22 goals on 100 chances last year. Canton was 7-4-1 in road games in the 2018-19 season. They return five of their top six scorers overall.

Up Next: The Pioneers are on the road on November 8th and 9th against Manhattanville and Neumann.