Men's Hockey Takes Long Trip To Stevenson, Chatham This Weekend

12/4/2019 1:54:00 PM

UTICA, NY - The No. 8 Utica College men's ice hockey team will be on the road for a two-game UCHC swing this weekend. The team embarks on its longest conference road trip of the season, an overall trip of over 1,000 miles on the shortest route, as they meet up with Stevenson University on Friday, December 6th and Chatham University on Saturday, December 7th. Friday's game begins at 7 p.m., while Saturday's tilt at Chatham begins at 4 p.m.

Follow Along: Live video and stats will be available for both games this weekend. Live video and stats of Friday's game at Stevenson will be available at gomustangsports.com, and will also be available through their Roku Channel available for free download on the device's channel store. Live video of Saturday's game at Chatham is available on http://www.pacathletics.org/watch/default.aspx?Live=967&path=chatham, and the game is also streamed on the "PAC.TV" app available for Roku and AppleTV.

The Countdown Is On: The fifteenth annual New York SASH Teddy Bear Toss will be held on Saturday, December 14th at the Aud during the Pioneers' game against Morrisville. The game will be televised locally on WKTV Newschannel 2 for a third consecutive year.

Getting Closer: Head Coach Gary Heenan needs six more wins to move up to 33rd on the NCAA Division III Career Coaching Victories list. Hitting that mark would tie him with former Wesleyan coach David Snyder. Heenan is currently in outright possession of 34th on that list, as he was previously tied with UW-Stout's Terry Watkins before the season began.

The All-Time Series: Utica is a combined 10-0 against this weekend's opponents, and has outscored them 60-12 over those meetings. Utica is 6-0 against Stevenson University. The Pioneers are 4-0 against Chatham, and have outscored the Cougars 31-2 over the past two seasons. That series began with a 13-1 win by Utica, with the Pioneers setting a new school record for team goals in a single game.

Last Time Out: The Pioneers claimed the championship of the Delta Hotels Thanksgiving Showcase Tournament for a second time in two editions of the event. On Friday, Utica topped defending MASCAC Champion Plymouth State 2-1. Defensemen made the difference in the scoring as Justin Allen (Rochester, NY/Rochester Monarchs (USPHL-NCDC)) and Joey Rutkowski (Rome, NY/Smiths Falls Bears (CCHL)) each scored goals for the Pioneers, and Gianluca Baggetta (Maple, Ontario/North York (OJHL)) stopped the first fourteen shots he saw in just over 40 minutes of work. On Saturday, the Pioneers turned in an incredible performance as they knocked off unbeaten No. 7 Salve Regina by a 5-1 score. Brandon Osmundson (Chesapeake, VA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)) led the way with a goal and two assists, and three others had multi-point nights. Cameron Bartkoski (Dallas, TX/Amarillo Bulls (NAHL)) scored the first goal of his college career in the game. Sean Dickson (Millbrae, CA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL-Premier)) kept the 2018 national finalists in check with 22 saves. Forward Donovan Ott (Lebanon, PA/Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (ECAC Hockey)) was named the tournament MVP, while Brandon Osmundson (Chesapeake, VA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)), Sean Dickson (Millbrae, CA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL-Premier)), and Joey Rutkowski (Rome, NY/Smiths Falls Bears (CCHL)) joined him on the All-Tournament team.

In The Polls: Utica is now ranked eighth in the latest US College Hockey Online poll released on Monday. The Pioneers are now 5-1-2 for the campaign, and two wins over the past weekend enabled the team to vault up from twelfth to eighth.

Elite Company: Just twelve teams in all of Division III hockey hold an active win-loss record containing one or no losses. Utica is one of those twelve teams. The Pioneers are set to face another of those squads this weekend as Stevenson is off to a 7-1 start. The Mustangs are also receiving votes in the latest USCHO poll.

Goaltender of the Week: Sophomore goaltender Sean Dickson (Millbrae, CA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL-Premier)) has been named the UCHC Goaltender of the Week. Dickson was an unstoppable force in the championship game of the Delta Hotels Thanksgiving Showcase tournament this weekend. Dickson made his second start of the season in the heat of battle against previously undefeated and nationally-ranked Salve Regina, and shined in the process. He backstopped the team to its most complete performance of the season with 22 saves in a 5-1 smashing of one of the nation's few remaining unbeaten teams. He also turned in a five save relief outing in a 2-1 win over Plymouth State.

You'll Get Nothing And Like It: After a tough night on the Penalty Kill during the previous weekend against Elmira, the Pioneers turned in a stellar penalty kill performance at last weekend's tournament. Utica was a perfect 7-for-7 at defusing opposing power play chances against Plymouth State and Salve Regina. This season, the Pioneers are at 81.6 percent on the penalty kill.

Three Is A Magic Number: The Pioneers are undefeated this season when scoring three or more goals.

Picking Up Where He Left Off: Brandon Osmundson (Chesapeake, VA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)) has now recorded a point in seven of his first eight collegiate games, and is on a three game point streak at the moment. He has point streaks of four, and three games respectively to open his collegiate career. He leads the team in goals, assists, and points with five goals, nine assists, and fourteen points. He is second in the UCHC and sixth in the nation with an average of 1.75 points per game. He remains the nation's leading rookie scorer.

Donny Dangles: Transfer student Donovan Ott (Lebanon, PA/Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (ECAC Hockey)) continues to heat up after posting an effort worthy of most valuable player honors at the Delta Hotels Thanksgiving Showcase. He had a goal and an assist in the tournament championship, and now has points in six of eight games played. He is tied for second on the team with eight points, and is tied for second on the team with three goals.

Three's A Crowd: In addition to Ott, two others are tied for second on the team with three goals apiece. Freshman Dante Zapata (Huntington Beach, CA/Austin Bruins (NAHL)) and senior Daniel Fritz (Harwood, MD/Canisius College (Atlantic Hockey)) are the two other players.

The Rutkowski Files: With five points in his first seven games, Joey Rutkowski (Rome, NY/Smiths Falls Bears (CCHL)) may be on his way to his best career offensive season as a senior. His best season so far came last year when he had ten points in 24 games. He is already halfway to that mark in less than half the time as a senior.

Welcome Back, Regen: Regen Cavanagh's (Chesapeake, VA/Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)) first period assist in the Friday win over Plymouth State was Cavanagh's first point in quite some time. The sophomore missed a large chunk of games to wrap up his freshman season as he sat the out the team's final ten games due to injury. The point was his first since a January 25th win over Nazareth.

Last Time Against Stevenson: In a game played on February 9th at Stevenson, Gregg Burmaster (Clinton, NY/Colorado College (NCHC)) scored the team's first hat trick in exactly one calendar year in the same location as the last one, and the Pioneers won 5-2 in Owings Mills, Maryland. Daniel Fritz (Harwood, MD/Canisius College (Atlantic Hockey)) had four assists, and Shawn Lynch (Syracuse, NY/Ottawa Jr. Senators (CCHL)) had a goal and two assists in the conference win. Utica swept the 2018-19 season series with a 7-1 home win coming earlier in that season, a win that was the 250th career coaching win for head coach Gary Heenan.

Last Time Against Chatham: The line of Brett Everson (Mississauga, Ontario/Hawkesbury (CCHL)), Shawn Lynch (Syracuse, NY/Ottawa Jr. Senators (CCHL)), and Gregg Burmaster (Clinton, NY/Colorado College (NCHC)) each had three points apiece, and Gianluca Bagetta had 32 saves in goal as the Pioneers rolled past the Cougars by a 5-1 score in Pittsburgh back in February. Earlier in the season, the Pioneers won the home leg of the series by a 5-0 score in the fourteenth annual New York SASH Teddy Bear Toss. Jamie Bucell (Garfield Heights, OH/Philadelphia (EHL)) scored the coveted goal, while Sean Dickson (Millbrae, CA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL-Premier)) got the goaltending start and recorded a shutout.

The Turning Point: Following Thanksgiving weekend a season ago, the Pioneers went on to go an astounding 16-2-2 for the remainder of the 2018-19 season.

Scouting Stevenson: After failing to make the conference playoffs last season, Stevenson is rolling to begin this season as the Mustangs are 7-1 under the direction of former Pioneer assistant coach and Utica, NY native Dominick Dawes. Dominic Brenza and Ryan Patrick lead the team in points with 13, and both also have eleven assists to start the season. They are tied for fifth in the nation in assists per game. Stevenson had a big weekend while hosting western opposition last week, as they swept the NCHA tandem of St. Norbert and Lawrence University. The Mustangs defeated the 2018 national champions from St. Norbert 6-5 on Friday. Visiting Lawrence came up short against the Mustangs on Saturday by a score of 8-3.

Scouting Chatham: The Cougars are 1-9 under head coach Mike Callan. Junior Niko Moulakelis has six goals and five assists for eleven points to lead the Cougars. Matt Calas and Ricardo Gonzalez have each made four starts in goal.