UTICA, NY - The Utica College men's ice hockey team looks for a third straight win in conference play on Friday as it hosts UCHC rival Nazareth College at the Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium. Opening faceoff is slated for 7 p.m.

Parkway Drugs Night: Friday's game is presented in association with sponsor Parkway Drugs, who has three locations around the Utica area in East Utica, South Utica, and North Utica.

Follow Along: Friday'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 Abin Boris on Friday. 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.

The Series: This will be the 21st all-time meeting between Utica and Nazareth. The series began in 2012 alongside the debut of the Nazareth program that year. The Pioneers are 12-5-3 against the Golden Flyers, and won three out of four games last season against Nazareth. All three wins came at home. Utica is 8-2-1 in games at home against Nazareth and the Pioneers have won four straight home appearances against the Golden Flyers.

We Meet Again: Friday's game will be a re-match of last season's UCHC tournament semifinal series. Top-seeded Utica prevailed over Nazareth by scores of 2-1 and 3-2, with the latter contest going to overtime before being settled by one of the most bizarre goals in program history. With Nazareth needing a win to force a decisive series minigame in overtime, the Golden Flyers pulled their goaltender and Daniel Fritz (Harwood, MD/Canisius College (Atlantic Hockey)) scored on the empty net to send Utica into the finals.

Conference Home Opener: The game against Nazareth will be Utica's first home conference game of the season. Utica is 3-1-1 in its last five conference home openers.

Last Weekend: Utica avenged its two most recent defeats from the 2018-19 season as they swept Manhattanville and Neumann by scores of 5-2 and 6-2, respectively. In Friday's game against Manhattanville, the Pioneers turned around a 2-1 deficit with four unanswered goals, all of which came from Freshmen, as they toppled the defending conference tournament champions. Brandon Osmundson (Chesapeake, VA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)) had three goals for his first college hat trick, Conor Landrigan (New Tripoli, PA/Binghamton Jr. Sens (NAHL)) had three assists, Kasper Kjellkvist (Vaxjo, Sweden/Curry College (Commonwealth Coast Conf.)) had a pair of assists, Dante Zapata (Huntington Beach, CA/Austin Bruins (NAHL)) scored his first career goal, and veteran Tyler Pietrowski (Curtice, OH/Odessa Jackalopes (NAHL)) scored in the first period off the first career assist for freshman defenseman Jacob Cuffley (Kanata, ON/Smiths Falls Bears (CCHL)). Gianluca Baggetta (Maple, Ontario/North York (OJHL)) stopped 21 of 23 shots for his first win of the season. On Saturday, the Pioneers pulled away from a one-goal game in the third period with three straight goals to win by a comfortable four goal margin against Neumann. Joey Rutkowski (Rome, NY/Smiths Falls Bears (CCHL)) led the charge with three assists, while the goals were scored by Daniel Fritz (Harwood, MD/Canisius College (Atlantic Hockey)), Justin Allen (Rochester, NY/Rochester Monarchs (USPHL-NCDC)), Josh Haskin (Troy, NY/P.A.L. Jr. Islanders (USPHL)), Kjellkvist, Zapata, and Buster Larsson (Bunkeflostrand, Sweden/Syracuse Stars (NCDC)). The goal for Kjellkvist was his first as a Pioneer, while Larsson had his first collegiate goal overall in the Saturday win. Freshman goaltender Joseph Giacobbo (Deptford, NJ/Rockland Nationals (CCHL)) got the win in his first collegiate start between the Pioneer pipes with a 24 save performance.

Where We Sit: The Pioneers are 2-0-1, and 2-0 in United Collegiate Hockey Conference play, where they sit in first place. Utica was voted into twelfth in the latest US College Hockey Online Men's Top 15, up from fourteenth the previous week.

Rookie of the Week: Utica College freshman forward Brandon Osmundson (Chesapeake, VA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)) was named the United Collegiate Hockey Conference Rookie of the Week on Monday. Osmundson turned in an electrifying weekend in helping Utica sweep the weekend and open the season at 2-0 in UCHC play. On Friday, he had a natural hat trick to wrap up the game that included the game-winning goal as the Pioneers topped defending UCHC Champion Manhattanville 5-2. In Saturday's game against Neumann, Osmundson added two more assists and was a plus-one on the evening as the Pioneers waltzed by the Knights by a 6-2 score. Osmundson has seven points on three goals and four assists in his first three collegiate games. He is tenth in the nation in total points, and leads all freshmen nationally with 2.33 points per game.

Piling Them Up: Utica has outscored opponents in conference play in each of the past three seasons. Through one weekend, the Pioneers are outscoring UCHC opposition 11-4. Overall, Utica is averaging 4.67 goals per game to rank tenth nationally. 

Keep On Rolling: The Pioneers have not lost in their last twelve home regular season games. They have not lost a home regular season game since an October 27th, 2018 loss to nationally-ranked Adrian College.

We Know The Half, Or Third Of It: The Pioneers have been at their scoring best in the third period so far this season, as they have scored seven of their fourteen goals this season in the third period. They are outscoring opponents 7-3 during the final frame of play.

On Special Teams: The Pioneers have started the year at 5-of-14 on the power play, a figure that ranks sixth nationally and second among teams in the United Collegiate Hockey Conference. Utica finished its first conference weekend at 3-of-9 on the man advantage over the two games. The Utica penalty kill has stopped nine of twelve opportunities to begin the season, and their 75 percent success rate is good for 54th nationally. Opponents went just 1-of-8 against Utica this past weekend. Utica has scored five power play goals, but does not have a short-handed goal this season.

Learning About Landrigan: Forward Conor Landrigan (New Tripoli, PA/Binghamton Jr. Sens (NAHL)) has experienced a recent production surge as a playmaker, as he stands second on the team with six points, all of them on a team-leading six assists. He is second in the nation in assists at present, and leads the nation in assists per game (2.0). Landrigan has done so while working on an effective line with Kjellkvist and Osmundson through the first three games.

Fritz Findings: Alternate captain and defenseman Daniel Fritz (Harwood, MD/Canisius College (Atlantic Hockey)) has come out firing to begin the 2019-20 season. He has two goals and three assists for five points in his first three games. He is second among defensemen nationally with an average of 1.67 points per game. He was tied for twelfth in the nation in that category last season alongside teammate Zach Borsoi (Brossard, Quebec/Gloucester (CCHL)). He is the only Pioneer who currently has more than one power play goal this year. Fritz has 48 points in 58 games, all of it coming at Utica. He is two points away from becoming just the fourth defenseman in program history to break the 50 career point mark at Utica. He is six points away from surpassing Scott Leygraff and moving up to third on the program's all-time points list for defensemen behind only former teammates Dalton Carter (Toledo, OH/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) and Zach Borsoi (Brossard, Quebec/Gloucester (CCHL)). Carter holds the program record with 82 career points. Fritz is currently on an eight game point streak dating back to last season. He had two goals and two assists in the UCHC semifinals against Nazareth last year, and has points in three straight against the Golden Flyers.

Balanced Approach: Nine different players have scored a goal for Utica in the first three games. In addition, just 12 players have appeared in all three games to start the season.

Don't Forget a Baggetta: Gianluca Baggetta (Maple, Ontario/North York (OJHL)) now has 23 career wins, and needs just three more to surpass his predecessor in the starting goaltender job for third-most in school history behind only assistant coaches Adam Dekker and Nick Therrien. He has a career goals against average of 1.79, and a save percentage of 93.4 percent. He is Utica's current career leader in both categories among eligible goaltenders with a minimum of 150 saves and 900 minutes played.

It's Gotta Be The Shoes: Freshman forward Dante Zapata (Huntington Beach, CA/Austin Bruins (NAHL)) has been extremely impressive to start his freshman season, as he has scored in back-to-back games and also has an assist to his credit for three points to rank tied for fourth on the team.

Tyler's Time: Junior forward Tyler Pietrowski (Curtice, OH/Odessa Jackalopes (NAHL)) is playing some of the sharpest hockey of his career so far this season. He has two goals and an assist and has a point in all three games to begin the season.

About Nazareth: Nazareth is in its eighth season under head coach George Roll. The Golden Flyers are 2-1 and have won their last two games after a season opening defeat at the hands of Geneseo. They are 2-0 in conference play. Nazareth swept the same teams Utica did over the weekend, as the Pioneers' conference travel partner took down Neumann on Friday by an 8-3 score, then toppled Manhattanville by a 7-2 margin on Saturday. They are currently fourth in the nation in scoring offense with an average of 5.33 goals per game, a figure that currently leads the UCHC. Their power play is running at 25 percent to rank nineteenth in the nation. Goaltender Sean Kuhn was the runner-up to Gianluca Baggetta (Maple, Ontario/North York (OJHL)) in last year's UCHC Goalie of the Year vote, and the all-conference netminder has made two starts with a 1-1 record, and a .92 save percentage to go with a goals against average of 3.00. Nazareth has proven to be a strong first period team, as they've outscored opponents 6-0 in the first 20 minutes. Junior forwards Mateo Capriotti and Justin Miller lead the squad with four points each, with it coming on two goals and two assists for both players. Senior defenseman Cody Antonini also has four points manufactured on a goal and three assists.

Up Next: The Pioneers will continue on a five game homestand next weekend as they host Lebanon Valley on Friday, November 22nd, and Elmira on Saturday, November 23rd. Both games are conference games and will begin at 7 p.m.