UTICA, NY – The Utica College women's ice hockey team will kick off its nine game home stand in a nonconference battle with Hamilton College at 7 p.m on Tuesday.

Follow Along:  Live video and stats for the game will be available at portal.stretchinternet.com/utica/.

Going Gold: UC has teamed up with the "13thirty" Foundation for this year's Gold Ribbon Game on Feb.5. During the game, the Pioneers will wear special edition gold ribbon uniforms to raise awareness for childhood cancer.  The jerseys are currently being auctioned off and you can bid on them by sending an e-mail to: jcsolomi@utica.edu with your name, address and amount you would like to bid. Online bidding will end at 5 p.m. on February 4th and will resume in the arena at 6 p.m. on the 5th.  All proceeds from the event will be donated to support local adolescent and young adult cancer patients and survivors. 

Last Time Out: Utica went 2-0 last weekend, sweeping United Collegiate Hockey Conference foes Lebanon Valley College and Chatham University on the road, to move to 5-2 in the UCHC, 5-9 overall. In Saturday's matchup with Lebanon Valley, UC was able to come up with a 2-0 win, powered by power play goals from Olivia Hirschy (Fort Wayne, IN/Culver Academies) and Georgiana Santullo (Woburn, MA/Boston Shamrocks/Woburn High School). Hirschy's game-winner was helped along by Lexi Stanisewski (Lawrence, MA/Boston Shamrocks) early in the second period. On Sunday, the Pioneers were quick to assert their dominance, as Caley Susitti (Hartland, WI/Milwaukee Jr. Admirals) posted an unassisted, short-handed goal just under seven minutes into the first period, in a contest that they would claim 5-1. Freshman Carolyn Whitney (Raleigh, NC/Milbrook School) was accredited with the game-winner two minutes into the second stanza, assisted by Santullo. Susitti collected a second goal, while Santullo and Erica Sloan (Potsdam, NY/St. Lawrence Steel) recorded tallies of their own. In goal both days, senior Bria Reilly (Hamden, CT/Brewster Academy) moved to 4-7 on the season, allowing just one power play goal, while collecting 27 saves in the process.

Pioneers Putting Up Numbers: Sloan continues to lead her squad offensively, with the best marks in goals and points, with six and 11, respectively. Close behind is Santullo, who has a team-best six helpers thus far. The upperclassmen also has three goals for a second-best nine points. Tying for second in the goal count is Whitney, who five goals, with a team-leading three tabbed game-winners. Leading UC in goal is Reilly, with her goals against average of 2.87 accompanied by her save percentage of .909.

Stacking Up in Conference: The Pioneers currently have the third-best in conference record in the UCHC North, trailing only Nazareth and Elmira with their matching records of 5-1. Whitney ranks second in game-winners with three. Reilly has a fourth-best goals against average, with her mark of 2.87. The senior netminder has allowed just four power play goals, despite seeing 63 penalty kills.

All-Time Series with the Continentals: UC is strong in its all-time series with Hamilton, owning a 12-7-4 record, while going 8-4 at home. In the pair's last meeting on Nov. 25, 2018, it was Utica who collected a 3-2 road victory. In the win, Hirschy collected two goals, including the game-winner which game at 8:14 in the final period.

Scouting Hamilton: The Continentals are currently 8-6 on the season, 4-4 in the NESCAC, most recently sweeping Trinity over the weekend. In Friday's 3-2 overtime victory, Mya Berretta proved to be the difference maker, scoring two goals, including the game-winning goal in the additional period. Barretta's goal at 12:08 in the second period was the sophomore's first power play goal of the season. Hamilton downed Trinity once again on Saturday, in a 5-2 contest. Five different Continentals scored in the victory, led by Hyla Mosher's second period game-winning goal. Mosher also dished out a helper. Sidney Molnar was in goal for both games, collecting 54 saves with four goals allowed.
Michaela Giuttari and Maura Holden each recorded three points on three assists over the span, both with one assist on Friday and two on Saturday. Guittari leads her squad in assists and points with tallies of 12 and 17, respectively, while second-best in goals with five. Kate Piacenza, who posted an assist on Friday night's game-winner, holds the top spot in scoring with a team-best six goals.

All-Time Series with the Continentals: UC is strong in its all-time series with Hamilton, owning a 12-7-4 record, while going 8-4 at home. In the pair's last meeting on Nov. 25, 2018, it was Utica who collected a 3-2 road victory. In the win, Hirschy collected two goals, including the game-winner which came at 8:14 in the final period.

Up Next: Utica will return home for a pair of conference contests this weekend, taking on Neumann University at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, and Manhattanville College at 2 p.m. on Saturday.