REISTERSTOWN, Md. - The Utica College men's hockey team came up short of victory in a third straight United Collegiate Hockey Conference game on Friday. The No. 8 Pioneers ended up on the trailing end of a 3-1 second period, and host Stevenson University held off Utica with an evenly scored third period as the Mustangs toppled the Pioneers by a 5-4 score at the Reisterstown Sportsplex in Maryland.

The loss snaps a string of two straight overall wins from the previous weekend for Utica. The Pioneers are now 5-2-2 in their first nine games of the regular season, and 3-2-1 in the United Collegiate Hockey Conference. Stevenson continues on a program-best start at 8-1 overall this season.

Senior defenseman Daniel Fritz (Harwood, MD/Canisius College (Atlantic Hockey)) recorded the 50th point of his career with a power play goal in the third period. He becomes just the fourth defenseman in program history to crack 50 career points, joining former teammates Dalton Carter (Toledo, OH/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) and Zach Borsoi (Brossard, Quebec/Gloucester (CCHL)) on that short list. Fritz's goal was the lone man-advantage strike for Utica as the Pioneers went 1-for-3 on the power play. Fritz also added a third period assist.

Brandon Osmundson (Chesapeake, VA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)), Joey Rutkowski (Rome, NY/Smiths Falls Bears (CCHL)), and Kasper Kjellkvist (Vaxjo, Sweden/Curry College (Commonwealth Coast Conf.)) scored the remainder of the Utica goals. Sean Dickson (Millbrae, CA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL-Premier)) made 27 saves in the loss for the Pioneers. Nick Gray had two goals and an assist for Stevenson.

The Pioneers snagged the early lead on a first period goal by Osmundson, who sent a left wing side wrister into the back of the cage at 10:36 of the frame. The goal was the only score of the first period.

Stevenson surged into the lead with a late flurry to cap a strong second period. Chris Javens pulled the Mustangs level with his second goal of the season at 3:07. Just past the midpoint of the stanza, Utica pulled back ahead at a 2-1 score as Joey Rutkowski (Rome, NY/Smiths Falls Bears (CCHL)) connected on his second goal of the season, with Justin Allen (Rochester, NY/Rochester Monarchs (USPHL-NCDC)) getting one assist, and the other going to Brendan Schultz (Schaumburg, IL/Topeka (NAHL)) for his first collegiate point. Stevenson jolted ahead to a 3-2 advantage after two periods with two goals in the final 5:14 of the second period.

The sides traded power play goals in the first ten minutes of the third, with Fritz scoring his goal at 7:07 to pull back within a goal after Austin Master created a two goal cushion for the Mustangs. The one goal score remained until the final minutes, when Utica pulled Dickson for the extra attacker. The sixth skater took away, and later gave back to Utica's fortunes. Gray scored on the empty net for Stevenson with just 1:04 left, and Kasper Kjellkvist (Vaxjo, Sweden/Curry College (Commonwealth Coast Conf.)) scored an extra attacker goal with just moments to go as the Pioneers took the 5-4 defeat.

Utica continues on its 1,000 mile road trip on Saturday as it meets Chatham University at 4 p.m.