UTICA, NY - The Utica College women's hockey team is set to compete in this year's UCHC Tournament as it travels to Elmira on Saturday to take on nationally-ranked No. 5 Elmira College in the quarterfinal round. Game time is set for 3 p.m. at Elmira's Murray Athletic Center located in Pine Valley, NY.

Follow Along: Live video and stats for Saturday's game will be made available at portal.stretchinternet.com/elmira/. 

The Field: There are 8 teams who qualified for the women's UCHC Tournament. The teams are split up into two divisions -- north and south. The south division consists of top-seeded Manhattanville, No. 2 seeded Neumann College, the No. 3 seed Stevenson College and last seeded Chatham University. The No. 4 seed Utica College Pioneers are placed in the North division and are paired with top-seeded Elmira College, who clinched the division on the last day of the season. The third seed in the North division is William Smith College, who will face the No. 2 seed Nazareth Golden Flyers. This is the first year of conference playoff expansion for the UCHC, which previously had a six team playoff. 

Last Time Out: The Pioneers and Elmira College recently played each other on February 23 in the last game of the regular season. Elmira College won by a 2-0 score. Elmira scored both its goals in the first period. Sophomore netminder Savannah Gutierrez (Huntington Beach, CA/Anaheim Lady Ducks) had a spectacular night in goal with 40 saves. The Pioneers had twelve shots on goal in the first period. Elmira won the first meeting of the season as well.

As One Door Closes: The Pioneers wrapped up the 2019-20 regular season at 9-15-1, and the squad was 9-6-1 in the United Collegiate Hockey Conference. All nine of the team's wins came in conference play, and the Pioneers were 5-6 when playing away from home.

Another Opens: The Pioneers have qualified for a conference tournament for an eighteenth time in their nineteen year existence. They have made the conference field in eight straight seasons between the former ECAC West and the current UCHC. The last time the Pioneers played in the championship game was in 2016 against eventual Division III national champion Plattsburgh.

Back Home Again In Indiana: After back-to-back sixteen point seasons, Olivia Hirschy (Fort Wayne, IN/Culver Academies) has set a new career best for points in a season with seventeen in her senior campaign. She also has a team leading thirteen assists to go with four goals. She is the team's active leader with 56 career points, and also has 31 career goals. She needs three more goals to crack the top ten in career goals at Utica.

The Young Guns: Freshmen and sophomores occupy three of the top four spots on the Pioneer scoring list this season. Georgiana Santullo (Woburn, MA/Boston Shamrocks/Woburn High School) has sixteen points on a team-leading nine goals, and also has seven assists. She now has 20 goals in the first 51 games of her career. Carolyn Whitney (Raleigh, NC/Milbrook School) and Erica Sloan (Potsdam, NY/St. Lawrence Steel) each have fifteen points, with Whitney scoring eight goals and seven assists, and Sloan recording seven goals and eight assists. The rookie tandem is tied for tenth in rookie scoring in the United Collegiate Hockey Conference.

Tale of the Tape: The Pioneers are seventh in the UCHC in scoring offense at an average of 2.24 goals per game, and are sixth in scoring defense at 2.84 goals allowed per game. They rank ninth in the conference on the power play at 11.5 percent, and are fifth on the penalty kill at 83.7 percent. Erica Sloan (Potsdam, NY/St. Lawrence Steel) and Olivia Hirschy (Fort Wayne, IN/Culver Academies) lead the team with two power play goals apiece, while Caley Susitti (Hartland, WI/Milwaukee Jr. Admirals) has the only shorthanded goal of the season for UC.

Between The Pipes: Senior netminder Bria Reilly (Hamden, CT/Brewster Academy) is likely to make her 50th career start on Saturday for the Pioneers. She has a career record of 25-21-3 to go with eleven career shutouts. She is sixth in school history in career wins, and is now tied for second in career shutouts. This season, she is 8-11-1 in 20 starts with a goals allowed average of 2.57, and a save percentage of 91.3 percent. Sophomore Savannah Gutierrez (Huntington Beach, CA/Anaheim Lady Ducks) is 1-4 with a goals allowed average of 3.84 this year. She is coming off of her best performance of the year at Elmira.

Lineup Continuity: The Pioneers had a total of fifteen skaters play all 25 games this season. Additionally, sophomores Caley Susitti (Hartland, WI/Milwaukee Jr. Admirals), Sirena Fitzery (Hamburg, NY/Buffalo Bisons), and Georgiana Santullo (Woburn, MA/Boston Shamrocks/Woburn High School) have played in every game of their college career so far, as the trio has an ironwoman streak that stands at 51 games. Some others, such as Shae Counts (Irondale, CO/Alaska Allstars) and Lindsey Winter (Minneapolis, MN/Armstrong Cooper), became every day players for the first time in their college careers this season.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner: Freshman Carolyn Whitney (Raleigh, NC/Milbrook School) and junior Lexi Stanisewski (Lawrence, MA/Boston Shamrocks) share the team lead with three game-winning goals this season. Stanisewski has six career game-winners, which stands tied for tenth in school history alongside teammate Olivia Hirschy (Fort Wayne, IN/Culver Academies). Whitney's three game-winning goals are the most in a season by a Utica freshman since Lauren Patterson (Burlington, Ontario/Oakville) did it in the 2015-16 season.

About Elmira: The Soaring Eagles are ranked fifth in the latest US College Hockey Online Women's Top 10. The UCHC North Champions and two-time UCHC tournament champions are 19-4-2, and 14-2-0 in the UCHC this season as they took their first UCHC losses in their history over the course of this campaign. Junior forward Emma Crocker has 38 points on 17 goals and 21 assists this season, and Morgan Mordini and Jess Adams have both enjoyed breakout seasons at 25 and 24 points, respectively. Crocker is seventh in the nation in points per game, and she has five game-winning goals to tie for third in the nation. Elizabeth Hanson has become the team's primary starter in goal and has an overall record of 12-2-1 with a goals allowed average of 0.64. Her goals allowed average ranks third in the nation.

What's Next: The winner advances to the UCHC semifinal round to be hosted by the highest remaining seed.