UTICA, NY - The Utica College men's ice hockey team won a ninth straight game on Sunday. In a rematch of last season's UCHC final, the Pioneers darted out to a 3-0 start, then weathered a comeback attempt with key goals late in the second period, and early in the third as they topped visiting Manhattanville College by a 5-3 score in a UCHC game at the Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.

The No. 5 Pioneers are now 14-2-2, and 8-2-1 in the United Collegiate Hockey Conference with 25 points. They are two points away from jumping into first place in the league. UC has swept the season series against the Valiants and has won 10 of the last 11 games they've played against Manhattanville. Utica outscored this weekend's opponents by a 10-5 margin.

Kasper Kjellkvist (Vaxjo, Sweden/Curry College (Commonwealth Coast Conf.)) scored a pair of goals and added an assist for Utica for his third multi-goal game of the season. He has two multi-goal games in his last three appearances. Donovan Ott (Lebanon, PA/Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (ECAC Hockey)) also added a goal and an assist. Conor Landrigan (New Tripoli, PA/Binghamton Jr. Sens (NAHL)) and Justin Allen (Rochester, NY/Rochester Monarchs (USPHL-NCDC)) also added goals.

UC brought relentless pressure to outshoot the Valiants 48-14, including a 21-1 margin in the first period. Gianluca Baggetta (Maple, Ontario/North York (OJHL)) stopped 12 of those shots for his eighth win of the season, and the 30th of his career. He is just the third goaltender in program history to eclipse 30 career victories, and trails only coaches Adam Dekker and Nick Therrien on that list. Baggetta also had an assist.

The Pioneers snagged two first period goals in a dominant frame. Justin Allen (Rochester, NY/Rochester Monarchs (USPHL-NCDC)) opened the scoring with a work of brilliance at 9:03. He received the puck from Baggetta, then flew through the neutral zone down the left wing. After a dazzling toe drag around a defender, Allen dangled his way to the net and chipped the puck past goaltender Alexei Masenko for a 1-0 lead. The lead doubled at 13:39 when Landrigan buried a centering feed from the left wing. John Moncovich (Wilmington, NC/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)) and Brandon Osmundson (Chesapeake, VA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)) assisted on the play.

Donovan Ott (Lebanon, PA/Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (ECAC Hockey)) opened up a 3-0 lead 35 seconds into the second period to further dig a hole for the visitors. Between period adjustments helped the Valiants get back into the game from there, as they clogged the neutral zone for the majority of the period and scored twice on goals at 6:34 and 11:19 to trim the lead to 3-2.

Kjellkvist then took it upon himself to deal a series of crushing blows to the Valiants' comeback. He scored the game-winning goal with just fourteen seconds remaining in the second period as the Pioneers mounted a late period push. He scored again for a 5-2 lead at 1:22 of the third period. Manhattanville got one goal back on a tally by Connor Boyce, but Utica outshot the Valiants 15-3 in the third period to silence any further attempt at a comeback.

The Pioneers are on the road Friday at Nazareth. Game time is slated for 7 p.m.