UTICA, NY - The No. 11 Utica College men's ice hockey team begins the 2020 portion of its nineteenth season this weekend as they travel over 500 miles to Adrian, Michigan, for a two game set with the No. 7 Adrian Bulldogs. The teams will open the weekend at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday, before wrapping up with a 4:05 p.m. starting time on Sunday. Both games will be played at Adrian College's Arrington Ice Arena.

Follow Along: Both games will be broadcast on the Adrian College TV Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/TheACBulldogs. Live stats are also available at http://www.adrianbulldogs.com.

Where We Sit: The Pioneers are No. 11 in the latest USCHO Men's Top 15. They are 7-2-2 in their first eleven games of the regular season, and are 4-2-1 in the United Collegiate Hockey Conference with a total of 13 points at the break. They are fourth in the conference standings, trailing Wilkes's first place total of 21 points after the Colonels began at 7-0 in the conference. Stevenson is in second, and Elmira is in third. The Pioneers are undefeated in non-conference play at a record of 3-0-1, and are 4-1-2 in six games at home. Utica looks for a third straight win, and a fifth in six games on Saturday.

Last Time Out: Utica defeated Morrisville by a 4-1 score as part of the fifteenth annual New York SASH Teddy Bear Toss. Freshman Dante Zapata (Huntington Beach, CA/Austin Bruins (NAHL)) scored the fastest goal in the event's history 1:01 into the contest, and the Pioneers led for the remainder of the game. Nick Yzaguirre (Chicago, IL/Charlotte Rush (USPHL-Premier)), John Moncovich (Wilmington, NC/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)), and Donovan Ott (Lebanon, PA/Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (ECAC Hockey)) scored goals for Utica. Joseph Giacobbo (Deptford, NJ/Rockland Nationals (CCHL)) recorded 17 saves for his second career win. 

A Vitally Important Road Trip: With this weekend's games, the Pioneers begin a five game road trip that encompasses some very challenging competition. The first four games of the upcoming road trip are against teams ranked or receiving votes in the latest US College Hockey Online men's top 15. The Pioneers play No. 7 Adrian this weekend, and will play No. 10 Oswego on January 10th. Conference play resumes on January 17th against Wilkes University, who is receiving votes in the latest poll. The road trip wraps up the following day with a UCHC contest against King's College.

The Series: Adrian has won all three meetings in the all-time series between the two teams, but the games have a tendency to be extremely competitive all the way through. All three meetings have been decided by two goals or less, and two of them were decided by a single goal. Last year, the teams played twice in Utica to open the 2018-19 season. Adrian won the two matchups by scores of 3-1 and 3-2. In January 2018, the teams met at Adrian with the Bulldogs winning 2-1. Forwards Tyler Dill (South Lake Tahoe, CA/Charlotte Rush (USPHL-Premier)) and Conor Landrigan (New Tripoli, PA/Binghamton Jr. Sens (NAHL)) are the only two active Pioneer skaters with a goal against Adrian in their careers. Jared Domin has two goals and an assist against Utica in his career at Adrian.

Pay Attention To The Man Behind The Curtain: Utica freshman Brandon Osmundson (Chesapeake, VA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)) leads the nation's freshmen in points per game, a spot he has held for almost the entire first half of the season. He is averaging 1.64 points per game, and is also the nation's leading rookie goal scorer with nine tallies through the holiday break. He already has two hat tricks this season, making him the quickest player in program history to record two three goal games. He leads the team in goals, assists, and points with nine goals and nine assists for eighteen total points.

It's Gotta Be The Shoes: Freshman forward Dante Zapata (Huntington Beach, CA/Austin Bruins (NAHL)) has been vitally important to the team's recent play, while recording a prominent career milestone along the way. He is on a three game point streak with two goals and three assists in his last three appearances. In the Teddy Bear Toss game against Morrisville, Zapata scored the coveted teddy bear toss goal to become the third straight underclassman to accomplish the feat. This season, Zapata is fifth on the team in points with four goals and four assists for eight points.

If The Skate Fritz, Wear It: Senior defenseman Daniel Fritz (Harwood, MD/Canisius College (Atlantic Hockey)) is among the national leaders in points per game by a defenseman. Fritz is tied for seventh nationally among blue liners with an average of 1.09 points per contest. He has four goals and eight assists for twelve points. He is one of only four defensemen in program history to eclipse 50 career points.

This Just-in: Sophomore defenseman Justin Allen (Rochester, NY/Rochester Monarchs (USPHL-NCDC)) has been progressing in the offensive side of his game recently. After posting two goals and an assist in the first eight games, the second year rearguard is on a three game point streak and has four assists in the last three games. The three game point streak ties a career high. He leads the team on the plus/minus at +12 this season.

The Rutkowski File: Senior defenseman Joey Rutkowski (Rome, NY/Smiths Falls Bears (CCHL)) is on pace to set a new career high in points for Utica this season. The native Roman is eighth on the team in points with two goals and four assists for six points in nine games. His previous best was a ten point season, as compiled last year. Rutkowski will return to the site of his first game with Utica this weekend, as he made his Pioneers debut at Adrian after transferring in from Oswego.

Westward Bound: This weekend's games mark just the third time that Utica has ventured west of Lake Ontario. Utica most recently did so in fall 2018, when the team played at the UW-Stevens Point Thanksgiving tournament. In the 2017-18 season, the Pioneers played at Arrington Ice Arena for the first time. After playing a one-goal contest with Adrian that year, the Pioneers went to Plymouth, Michigan and topped the US Under-18 team by a 5-4 score. That year's under-18 side included future first overall NHL Draft pick Jack Hughes. 

Shooting Gallery: Utica has outshot the opposition in nine out of eleven games this season, and has eclipsed 40 shots five times.

Getting The Jump: Utica has been at its best in the first period recently. The Pioneers have outscored opponents 17-6 in the opening frame. Utica is 7-1-1 when even or ahead after the first 20 minutes, and are 6-1 when scoring first.

Big Challenge Ahead: The Pioneers have played, or will play against six of the current top fifteen teams nationally in scoring margin in a contest this season. That includes the two teams tied for first in that category, with Utica playing Adrian this weekend. The team also met the University of New England in an exhibition game earlier this year. The team also has Stevenson, Wilkes, Elmira, and Salve Regina on its schedule among teams ranking in the top 15 in that category.

On The National Tallies: Utica is ninth in the nation in scoring offense at 4.09 goals per game, and eighteenth in scoring defense at 2.18 goals allowed per game. They are tied with Adrian in scoring defense, while both teams rank in the top ten in scoring offense. Utica is 20th nationally on the power play at 21.7 percent, and ranks 58th on the penalty kill.

About The Bulldogs: The No. 7 Bulldogs are 8-2-1 overall, and 6-2-0 in conference play in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association. They sit in a tie for first in the NCHA South division with Lake Forest College. They have won their last two games against NCAA competition, most recently an 8-1 dousing of conference foe Trine University in a non-conference game. The Bulldogs also recently downed the USA Under-18 team by a 4-1 score, a team that included two likely first round picks in the upcoming NHL entry draft. They are second in the nation in scoring offense at five goals per game, while they also share the national lead in scoring margin. The team has scored eighteen power play goals to rank second in the nation in total, and they are tenth nationally in power play percentage at 26.1 percent. Sophomore Andrew Bellant is thirteenth nationally in points per game at 1.55. He has five goals and twelve assists for seventeen points. Senior Dino Balsamo has eight goals and eight assists, and ranks 23rd nationally in points per game. Balsamo has four power play goals. Cameron Gray is 5-2-1 in eight starts between the pipes. The Bulldogs are 0-0-1 against UCHC teams this season, with a 3-3 tie against Manhattanville on November 2nd.

Up Next: Utica will head to the shores of Lake Ontario on Friday, January 10th to take on nationally ranked Oswego. Utica's next home game will be on January 25th.