UTICA, NY - The No. 12 Utica College men's ice hockey team will host one of the top holiday tournament fields in the nation this weekend as the team hosts the second Utica College Delta Hotels Thanksgiving Showcase tournament at the Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium. In Friday's semifinal round, two nationally-ranked sides come together at 4 p.m. as Oswego State matches up with Salve Regina. At 7 p.m., the Pioneers take the ice against the Plymouth State Panthers in a non-conference affair.

Follow Along: Live video and stats will be available for all four contests at portal.stretchinternet.com/utica/. Sports Information Assistant Ray Biggs '13 will have the call of all four matchups, and will be joined by Utica College student David J. Cooney on Friday's broadcast. Due to ongoing infrastructure improvements at WPNR-FM, there will be no radio coverage this weekend.

Two For One Special: Fans will have the opportunity to enjoy both games on each day of the tournament with just one admission ticket.

Saturday Schedule: The consolation game will take place at 4 p.m, and will feature the two losing teams from Friday's matchups. The championship game will be at 7 p.m.

A Meeting Of True Heavyweights: Three of the four teams are ranked in the latest national polls as Utica signs in at No. 12, Oswego is No. 9, and Salve is No. 7. All four teams to appear in this weekend's tournament have made the NCAA tournament field at some point in the past decade, and three of the four have reached at least the semifinals since 2013. Utica last made the tournament and reached the NCAA semifinals in 2013. Salve Regina appeared in the 2018 NCAA Division III Championship game against St. Norbert, a game that ended in overtime with the Seahawks becoming national runner-up. Oswego last appeared at the championship site in 2014, and in the 2013 NCAA Division III title game. They were an NCAA quarterfinalist last season. Plymouth State snagged the automatic qualifier for the MASCAC last season, but lost in the NCAA first round to Hobart.

Where We Sit: Utica is now 3-1-2, and 3-1-1 in United Collegiate Hockey Conference play.

Last Weekend: The Pioneers came out of their first full United Collegiate Hockey Conference home weekend without a victory as they tied Lebanon Valley 1-1 on Friday, and lost to Elmira College by a 4-2 score on Saturday. In Friday's game, Eric Holland (Whitby, ON/Brockville Braves (CCHL)) squared the score in the second period after an early Lebanon Valley goal, and the Pioneers settled for what is counted as a 1-1 tie. The game then advanced into the UCHC overtime protocol following the regular 5-on-5 overtime, and Lebanon Valley's Cole Hepler potted a goal with a second left to give the Dutchmen a second standings point over Utica's single standings point. The goaltenders were spectacular on Friday with Gianluca Baggetta (Maple, Ontario/North York (OJHL)) turning away 25 shots, and Lebanon Valley netminder and Syracuse native Henry Burns turning in a 41 save performance. On Saturday, Utica fell into a 2-0 hole in the first 13:49 and were never able to recover as Elmira topped the Pioneers by a 4-2 score. Donovan Ott (Lebanon, PA/Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (ECAC Hockey)) had a goal and an assist for the Pioneers, and Brandon Osmundson (Chesapeake, VA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)) had a goal in the third period for the Pioneers. Utica was 1-for-2 on the Power Play. Elmira outshot Utica 36-29 to become the first team to outshoot Utica in the team's last 14 regular season games, and the first team to beat Utica in a UCHC regular season game at the Aud in over two years. Elmira has the only two regular season UCHC wins against Utica at the Aud in the conference's three year history, as the Pioneers remain unbeaten against all others in home regular season play since the UCHC's first season.

Against Plymouth State: This will be just the second all-time meeting between Utica and Plymouth State. Utica won the first meeting in the series by a 6-4 score on October 29th, 2016. Utica was outshot in that game by a 32-25 margin, but Roman Ammirato (Williamstown, NJ/Union College (ECAC)) scored a pair of goals to lead a six goal barrage in the first home game of his Utica career. Riley Egan (Lakewood, OH/Philadelphia (EHL)), Vinny Stefan, Kevin Valenti (Queensbury, NY/Northern Cyclones (EHL)), and Connor Schmidt had the other Utica goals in that game. Goaltender Gianluca Baggetta (Maple, Ontario/North York (OJHL)) is the lone remaining Pioneer to dress for that game.

Recent Thanksgiving Tournament History: The Pioneers experienced a major turning point in a successful 2018-19 season last year as they attended the UW-Stevens Point Thanksgiving Tournament. In their semifinal game, the Pioneers threw the switch on a remarkable comeback as they beat St. Thomas by a 6-3 score. Utica was trailing by a 3-1 score after the second period, but unleashed a furious five goal third period to win. Gregg Burmaster (Clinton, NY/Colorado College (NCHC)) had three assists to lead the charge. The following day, the Pioneers had a one-goal game going into the third period against No. 1 UW-Stevens Point, but the host Pointers pulled away late to a 4-1 win. Stevens Point went on to go undefeated as the first unbeaten national champion in Division III history. The last time Utica hosted a thanksgiving weekend tournament was in 2015-16, when the Pioneers played two teams from the MIAC en route to the tournament title. Utica topped St. John's University by a 4-2 count, before blanking St. Thomas 1-0. Oswego was the fourth participant in that tournament.

In The Merry Old Land Of Oz: Freshman forward Brandon Osmundson (Chesapeake, VA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)) has points in all but one game this season, and leads the squad with ten points on four goals and six assists. He had a goal in the Saturday loss to Elmira College on a third period wraparound. Earlier this season, he had a natural hat trick to lead Utica past Manhattanville. Osmundson currently ranks nineteenth nationally and third in the UCHC among all skaters with 1.67 points per game, and continues to lead all freshmen nationally in points per game. He is 32nd nationally in goals per game, and tied for fifteenth in assists per game. There are just two freshmen nationally with more points than Osmundson, and both have already played in three more games.

Donnie Hockey: Transfer forward Donovan Ott (Lebanon, PA/Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (ECAC Hockey)) has been a quality addition since joining the team from Division I RPI in the offseason. He had a goal on Saturday and has averaged a point per game in six appearances this season. He has two goals and four assists for six points to rank in the top 100 nationally in points per game.

Milestone Watch: Senior defenseman Daniel Fritz (Harwood, MD/Canisius College (Atlantic Hockey)) remains at 49 career points coming out of the weekend. One more point will make him just the fourth defenseman in school history to eclipse 50 career points. He would join Scott Leygraff, and former teammates Dalton Carter (Toledo, OH/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) and Zach Borsoi (Brossard, Quebec/Gloucester (CCHL)) as the only defensemen in school history to hit that milestone. He has three goals and three assists for six points in this campaign.

Back on The Board: Eric Holland's (Whitby, ON/Brockville Braves (CCHL)) goal on Saturday was a long awaited one for the sophomore forward. It was his first goal since November 3rd, 2018 against Neumann. Holland had two goals and an assist that night. He now has four goals and eight assists for twelve career points in 24 career games.

Getting The First One: The Pioneers have had four freshmen net their first goals this season. Brandon Osmundson (Chesapeake, VA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)), John Moncovich (Wilmington, NC/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)), Buster Larsson (Bunkeflostrand, Sweden/Syracuse Stars (NCDC)), and Dante Zapata (Huntington Beach, CA/Austin Bruins (NAHL)) have all gotten their first career goal out of the way within the first month of the season.

Paying The Light Bill: Utica has scored on the power play in all but one game this season, as the Lebanon Valley game marks the first time this season that those units have been blanked. The Pioneers are 8-for-28 to open the season with a 28.6 percent power play percentage. The Pioneers are eighth in the nation in power play percentage, and third in the UCHC as the conference has four teams in the top ten nationally.

Counting It Up: The Pioneers are 23rd nationally in scoring offense with an average of 3.50 goals per game. They are 20th in the nation in scoring defense at 2.17 goals allowed per game.

Hockey Royalty In The Building: Relatives of prominent hockey figures will play in this weekend's tournament as part of the visiting teams. Plymouth State forward Peter Laviolette is the son of Nashville Predators head coach Peter Laviolette. The elder Laviolette was a Division III player himself with Westfield State before ascending to a long professional playing career that included a dozen games with the New York Rangers, and a prominent coaching career that includes appearances in the Stanley Cup Finals. Salve Regina forward Danny Eruzione is the nephew of 1980 United States Olympian Mike Eruzione, who scored the game-winning goal to propel the United States past the Soviet Union in Lake Placid.

Scouting Plymouth State: The Panthers are 4-2 to begin the season under head coach Craig Russell. They have won two straight games to head into the tournament with MASCAC victories over Worcester State and UMass Dartmouth. Junior forward JR Barone leads the club in scoring with three goals and three assists for six points. Freshmen Myles Abbate and Leo Stolpe have five points apiece.  Goaltender Andreas Petterson is 4-0 in his first four starts of the year. Utica assistant coach Nick Therrien previously had a stint as an assistant coach with the Panthers.

Scouting Salve Regina: The 2018 national runner-up Seahawks are 7-0 to start the season under the leadership of third year coach Zech Klann. They are led by Danny Eruzione's twelve points on two goals and ten assists. He is fourth in the nation in assists per game. They are eighth in the nation in scoring offense at 4.29 goals per game. Goaltender Louis-Felix St. Jean is 4-0 in four starts this season.

Scouting Oswego: The Lakers are 4-2 and are stuck in a two-game slide after losses to nationally ranked Geneseo and Hobart in their last two games. Travis Broughman leads the Lakers with four goals and three assists for seven total points. Goaltender David Richer is 3-2 in five starts. The Lakers are slated to meet Utica again on Friday, January 10th at Oswego.

Up Next: Utica will be on the road next after capping off their five game homestand in this weekend's tournament. The Pioneers will play at Stevenson on December 6th, and at Chatham on December 7th.