Box Score UTICA, NY - A sixth straight win for the #2 Utica College men's ice hockey team came far from easy, but the Pioneers got the job done to stand at the doorstep of opportunity. Senior goaltender Sean Dickson (San Francisco, CA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL-Premier)) made 16 saves for his school-record breaking eighth career shutout, and Utica scored three goals over the final two periods to defeat visiting Amherst 3-0 in a non-conference game as part of the Utica Thanksgiving Showcase.
With the win, the Pioneers advance to tomorrow's championship game against #1 SUNY Geneseo at 7 p.m. It marks the first regular season meeting between the #1 and #2 teams in the US College Hockey Online poll since the 2017-18 season, when NCHA rivals Adrian and St. Norbert battled in the most recent top-two showdowns on record.
Utica is now 7-1 on the season, while Amherst falls to 1-2.
UC out-shot a defensively-minded Amherst team 24-16. Both power play units were held scoreless.
Dickson's shutout propelled him out of a three-way tie alongside Gianluca Baggetta and Adam Dekker for the most ever at UC.
John Moncovich (Wilmington, NC/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)), Mic Curran (Arlington, MA/Curry College (CCC)), and Regen Cavanagh (Chesapeake, VA/Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)) had the Pioneer goals. Moncovich's goal ensures he keeps pace with his national co-leader in goal scoring, Geneseo's Justin Cmunt, who had a goal in the Knights' 6-2 win over UMass Boston in the first game. Curran's goal was his first in a Utica uniform. Brandon Osmundson (Virginia Beach, VA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)) had two assists. Osmundson and Moncovich now have a point in ten straight games.
The game was scoreless until well into the second period, when Moncovich roofed a backhand shot over the shoulder of Amherst netminder Alex Wisco for a 1-0 lead through the end of two periods.
In the third, the final ten minutes were key to putting the game on ice. Curran scored his first goal of the season by shooting through a net-front screen for a 2-0 lead, and Cavanagh fired home a rebound to polish off the scoring on a 3-0 win.
The win was Gary Heenan's 305th as a collegiate head coach, moving him ahead of his college head coach, Phil Grady, on the all-time list.
