UTICA, NY - The Utica College men's ice hockey team looks to add on to a program record nine game winning streak on Friday as they head to Rochester, NY for a UCHC matchup with the Nazareth Golden Flyers. Puck drop of the conference game is slated for 7 p.m. at the Bill Gray's Iceplex in Rochester.

Follow Along: Live video and stats will be provided by Nazareth Athletic Communications. In addition, fans can watch via the free Empire 8 Conference apps available for Amazon Fire, Roku, and AppleTV devices.

Ladies and Gentlemen, This Is Mambo No. 5: The Pioneers remained in fifth position in the latest USCHO men's top 15 released on Monday. The ranking is the highest since the beginning of the 2013-14 season, when the Pioneers were an experienced team standing on the heels of a deep postseason run.

Where We Sit: The nineteenth edition of the Pioneers currently sit at a record of 14-2-2, and are 8-2-1 in the United Collegiate Hockey Conference with 25 points. They are just two points back of first place. With one game this weekend, the Pioneers mathematically cannot take the lead this weekend because the two teams in first place will play one another, thus guaranteeing one of them at least two standings points. Three points are awarded for a win in UCHC play. UC is on a nine game winning streak, which is the longest ever in the history of the program. The last time Utica won eight straight games was during the 2018-19 season, which was part of a twelve game unbeaten streak that stands as the program's best in that category. The team also won eight straight to begin the 2016-17 season. Utica has the third best winning percentage in the nation.

Last Time Out: Utica wasted little time making itself at home in its first appearances at the Aud in over a month on Saturday and Sunday. The Pioneers established a first period lead on both days and went on to win by a scores of 5-2 against Neumann, and 5-3 against Manhattanville. In Saturday's clash with Neumann, Daniel Fritz (Harwood, MD/Canisius College (Atlantic Hockey)) recorded two assists to move up to second on the college's career points list among defensemen. The Pioneers outshot the Knights 44-27 and scored the first three goals of the game to put the visitors in the rear view mirror. On Sunday, the Pioneers met up with defending UCHC champion Manhattanville. They pummeled the Valiants early with a 21-1 shot total in the first period, and scored three goals in the first 20:35 of the game. The visitors later trimmed the lead to 3-2, but Kasper Kjellkvist's (Vaxjo, Sweden/Curry College (Commonwealth Coast Conf.)) goals in the waning moments of the second, and the early stages of the third period helped right the ship for the Pioneers in a two goal win. Gianluca Baggetta (Maple, Ontario/North York (OJHL)) earned his 30th career win for Utica in goal. The wins secured a regular season series sweep over both opponents.

Stay Wise To The Pairwise: As of the latest available data, the Pioneers currently sit fourth in the Division III Pairwise rankings. Those rankings mirror those used at the Division I level to select and seed the NCAA tournament field. They are being employed by the Division III committee again this season in the second year of a special NCAA pilot program.

Inside The Streak: Over the past nine games, the Pioneers have outscored their opposition 56-24. They have scored four or more goals each time during the time of the streak. They have gone 8-for-32 on the power play in that span. UC has recorded 30 or more shots in seven of their last nine games. Kasper Kjellkvist (Vaxjo, Sweden/Curry College (Commonwealth Coast Conf.)) leads all Utica goal scorers over the course of their winning streak with nine goals in his last nine games. Regen Cavanagh (Chesapeake, VA/Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)) has all seven of his goals this season in the last nine games, and Conor Landrigan (New Tripoli, PA/Binghamton Jr. Sens (NAHL)) and Donovan Ott (Lebanon, PA/Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (ECAC Hockey)) have been formidable as well with six goals apiece during this nine game stretch.

On The Road Again: The Pioneers are 8-1-0 this year when playing outside the confines of the Aud. They have won six straight road games, including road victories over ranked opponents like Wilkes, Adrian, and Oswego.  Utica is outscoring opponents 57-27 when playing away from home. The team kicks off a three game road trip with Friday's contest.

Think Outside The Box: The Pioneers are taking the eighth fewest penalty minutes per game in the entire nation right now. The squad averages just 10.1 penalty minutes per contest.

The Three Quarter Mark: Senior captain Jarrod Fitzpatrick (Wakefield, MA/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) is slated to play in the 75th game of his career on Friday. He has 20 career goals and 23 career assists over the last four years.

The Land Of Oz: Brandon Osmundson (Chesapeake, VA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)) continues to be the only freshman in the top 25 nationally in points per game. He is averaging a class-leading 1.61 points per game to rank in a tie for fifth among all skaters in the country. Osmundson has the team lead with 29 points, and is also tops among the Pioneers with nineteen assists. He needs eleven more assists to tie the team's single season record, and seven more to tie the single season freshman record at Utica held by Ryan Webb. Osmundson needs 12 more points to tie Webb's freshman points record of 41.

The Kasper Korner: Junior forward Kasper Kjellkvist (Vaxjo, Sweden/Curry College (Commonwealth Coast Conf.)) has become a dominant force as of late for Utica. He has an active seven game point streak, and has scored a point in nine of his last ten appearances. He has seventeen points in his last nine games played. He is third on the team with 22 points, and leads the squad with twelve goals.

A Dissertation On Daniel: Senior defenseman Daniel Fritz (Harwood, MD/Canisius College (Atlantic Hockey)) ranks second on the team with 23 points, which he has logged on seven goals and sixteen assists. He has been on a hot streak recently and has nine points on three goals and six assists in his last four contests. That streak has elevated him to 66 career points and the second most points by a defenseman over the course of a career in the history of the program, as he passed former teammate Zach Borsoi's (Brossard, Quebec/Gloucester (CCHL)) total of 63 on Saturday. He would need sixteen more points to tie Dalton Carter (Toledo, OH/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) for the most by a defenseman in school history.

In The Baggs: Senior goaltender Gianluca Baggetta (Maple, Ontario/North York (OJHL)) became just the third goaltender in program history to log 30 wins on Sunday, as he joined assistant coaches Adam Dekker and Nick Therrien in reaching that mark. This year, Baggetta is 8-1-2 with a 2.76 GAA in eleven starts.

An Offensive Boom: The Pioneers remained second in the nation in scoring offense at an average of 4.89 goals per game after this weekend's contests. That total likely could have vaulted the Pioneers into first nationally as they were able to dethrone previous national leader Geneseo, but a pair of 9-0 wins by the University of New England over Salve Regina has the Nor'Easters in the national lead now.

About Nazareth: The Golden Flyers are 8-8-2, and 5-6-0 in the United Collegiate Hockey Conference under George Roll this season. They have lost three straight games, and conceded four goals in each of those losses. They were blanked by Manhattanville by a 4-0 score, and later lost a 4-3 decision to Neumann over the weekend. Skaneateles native Ray Falso is the team's leading active scorer with fifteen points on eight goals and seven assists. Veteran netminders Sean Kuhn and Michael Tilford have split minutes in goal. Utica won the first meeting of the season by a 4-1 score.

What's Next: The Pioneers will go to Lebanon Valley and Elmira for a pair of United Collegiate Hockey Conference matchups next weekend.