UTICA, NY - The No. 4 Utica College men's ice hockey team starts its final push for the UCHC regular season title and a first round bye with a pair of vitally important home games this weekend at the Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium. On Friday, February 14th, the Pioneers will play their sixth all-time meeting against Chatham University. On Saturday, Utica will welcome UCHC co-leader Stevenson University to the Aud for a game that could prove decisive for a first round bye in the upcoming UCHC tournament. Both contests begin at 7 p.m. 

Follow Along: This weekend's games can be followed via live video and stats at portal.stretchinternet.com/utica. The game can also be found on local radio at WPNR 90.7 FM on the dial and online at PioneerRadio.org. Sports Information Assistant Ray Biggs '13 returns for a ninth season of UC Hockey play-by-play on commercial or non-commercial radio. Live video of games hosted by Utica, Elmira, and Nazareth this season can also be seen via the free Empire 8 Conference Apps available on AppleTV, Amazon Fire, and Roku.

House of the Good Shepherd Night: On Saturday, the Pioneers will host House of the Good Shepherd night. The House of the Good Shepherd provides care that changes children's lives in the greater Utica and Watertown areas. They are a leading provider of treatment, education, and support services to the children and families of the community that we serve. We will be known for providing services that are of the highest quality and value, delivered within the context of family, culture and community. Their Utica location is located right next to UC on Champlin Avenue. For more information on the organization, visit ChangingChildrensLives.com.

Playoff Hockey Guaranteed: The Pioneers have officially qualified for the 2020 UCHC Championship tournament, and are guaranteed to host at least a first round game with a cemented top four finish. Ticket information will be made available at a later date once the Pioneers know if they will have a first round bye.

Last Time Out: The Pioneers ventured southward with a score to settle against Lebanon Valley and No. 15 Elmira over the weekend. In their first weekend of the year meeting those two teams, the Pioneers managed just one out of a possible six standings points back in November. This past weekend was much different, as the Pioneers dropped Elmira with a late goal to win 3-2 on Friday, then shut out Lebanon Valley 5-0 on Saturday. Kasper Kjellkvist (Vaxjo, Sweden/Curry College (Commonwealth Coast Conf.)) made the difference in Friday's game by breaking a 2-2 tie with 1:34 left. Jarrod Fitzpatrick (Wakefield, MA/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) and John Moncovich (Wilmington, NC/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)) scored the other Utica goals in the win against Elmira. On Saturday, the Pioneers held Lebanon Valley to just twelve shots, and Gianluca Baggetta (Maple, Ontario/North York (OJHL)) stopped all of them for his first shutout of the season. Daniel Fritz (Harwood, MD/Canisius College (Atlantic Hockey)) had a goal and two assists.

Put The Brooms Away: A Saturday win against Stevenson will ensure that no conference opponent sweeps Utica in the regular season for a second straight year.

Where We Stand: The Pioneers are 17-2-2, and 11-2-1 in the United Collegiate Hockey Conference. The Pioneers remained fourth this week in the latest USCHO Men's Top 15. The team has 34 standings points and is in third place, two points back of UCHC co-leaders Stevenson and Wilkes, who have 36. With three points for a regulation or standard overtime win, the Pioneers are less than a game back from the conference lead and still have a meeting remaining with both leading teams in their last four regular season games, which means that Utica is effectively in control of its own destiny for a regular season title if it runs the table.

Without Peer: Utica's is on a program-record twelve game winning streak. The streak is the longest active winning streak in NCAA men's college hockey, and is also the second longest unbeaten streak. They have outscored opponents 73-27 in the last twelve games, and are winning in that span by an average of 3.83 goals per game.

We Meet Again: In Saturday's game against Stevenson, the Pioneers will get another look at the last team to beat them this season. Utica has not lost in two months, with their last loss coming against the Mustangs on December 6th. That game was a 5-4 loss for Utica at the Reisterstown Sportsplex in Maryland. Fritz had a goal and an assist for Utica, while Nick Gray had two goals and an assist for Stevenson. The Mustangs outshot Utica 32-22. It is the first and only ever win for Stevenson against Utica. The Pioneers hammered Chatham 9-3 the following day behind a hat trick from Brandon Osmundson (Chesapeake, VA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)).

Goaltender of the Week: Senior netminder Gianluca Baggetta (Maple, Ontario/North York (OJHL)) was named the United Collegiate Hockey Conference Goaltender of the Week on Tuesday. The veteran backstop earns the award for his play in wins over Lebanon Valley and Elmira this weekend. Baggetta got the start in both contests and impressed in the weekend's twinbill. On Friday against Elmira, he made 29 saves on 31 shots to win a second straight start at Elmira in a 3-2 win. On Saturday, he stopped all twelve shots he saw for his sixth career shutout against Lebanon Valley in a 5-0 win. The shutout ties him for second in program history in career shutouts alongside assistant coach Nick Therrien. Baggetta is now 11-1-2 this season with a goals allowed average of 2.37, and a save percentage of 91.4 percent.

I Am Oz: Freshman forward Brandon Osmundson (Chesapeake, VA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)) continues to set the team pace in points with 31 this season. He has ten goals and a team-leading 21 assists in his rookie season, which is the most points by a Utica rookie since all-time leading scorer Tim Coffman's 37 point rookie season in 2008-09. Osmundson leads all Division III freshmen with an average of 1.48 points per game. He is the only rookie in the country over 30 points. He has two hat tricks to his name, the second of which came against Chatham in December in the first meeting of the year between the two teams.

The Fritz File: Senior defenseman Daniel Fritz (Harwood, MD/Canisius College (Atlantic Hockey)) ranks second on the team in scoring with 29 total points. He has already surpassed his career-best total of 26 points from last season, a total that was built over 29 games, in just 21 games this year. He has 72 career points, and would need ten more to tie Dalton Carter (Toledo, OH/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) for the most by a Utica defenseman in a career. He is the nation's highest scoring defenseman at present with an average of 1.38 points per game. He needs just one more assist to tie his career high of 22 set last year.

On A Recent Roll: Juniors Kasper Kjellkvist (Vaxjo, Sweden/Curry College (Commonwealth Coast Conf.)) and Conor Landrigan (New Tripoli, PA/Binghamton Jr. Sens (NAHL)) have both had explosive second halves to the season. Landrigan is on an eight game point streak and has notched sixteen points on seven goals and nine assists over that time. Landrigan has 26 points in total in just fourteen games played. Kjellkvist scored the game-winning goal on Friday and has nine goals since the holiday break.

In Total: The Pioneers currently rank second nationally in scoring offense at an even five goals per game. They have scored 105 goals in total and are on pace to break the school record for goals in a season if this remarkable pace continues. They need just 28 more goals to tie the school record of 133 set two years ago. This is the eighth Utica team in program history to have eclipsed 100 goals scored for the season, and it has happened four years in a row. Defensively, the Pioneers are fourteenth nationally as they concede an average of 2.24 goals per game. The Pioneers lead the UCHC in scoring offense and defense.

Power On: The Pioneers are fifteenth in the nation on the power play at a clip of 24.2 percent this season. Fritz has six power play goals, which ties the fourth most in a single season in school history.

Record Regen: Sophomore forward Regen Cavanagh (Chesapeake, VA/Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)) sets the team lead in game-winning goals with four of them this season. He is tied for the school single season record shared by Aaron Jeffery, Louie Educate, and assistant coach Jon Ames. He has seven in his career, which is tied with Jimmy Sokol for the fourth most in a four year career at Utica.

About Chatham: Chatham is 3-18-0 this season in their third year under head coach Mike Callan. Junior Niko Moulakelis leads the side in scoring at thirteen points on seven goals and six assists. Ricardo Gonzalez has a 2-9 record between the pipes as the primary starting goaltender for the Cougars. They most recently lost a 3-2 overtime decision against Neumann on Saturday, February 8th. Michael Lamison and Eric Hildebrand had the Chatham goals in the game.

About Stevenson: The Mustangs are enjoying their best year yet at 15-5-1, and 12-2-0 in the UCHC. Dominic Brenza leads all skaters with 28 total points in 21 games this season. Freshman goaltender Ryan Kenny sits at a record of 12-4-1. Stevenson has three players with five or more power play goals, and they sport one of the top power play units in the nation at 26.9 percent. Stevenson is coached by Utica native and former Pioneer assistant Dominick Dawes. Dominick's brother Alex was formerly the director of hockey operations at Utica, and their father Tom owned a barber shop on Varick Street for many years.

Up Next: The Pioneers will finish off the regular season with home games against King's and Wilkes on February 21st and 22nd.