UTICA, NY - The Utica College men's ice hockey team seeks a strong start in United Collegiate Hockey Conference play on Friday, November 5th, and Saturday, November 6th. The Pioneers will host UCHC newcomer Arcadia University on Friday, before welcoming in Lebanon Valley for a Saturday afternoon matinee. Game times are set for 7 p.m. Friday, and 3 p.m. Saturday.
Follow Along: Live Video and Stats are available for all UC home games are available at portal.stretchinternet.com/utica/, and video is also available on the FREE Empire 8 app available for a multitude of streaming devices. Additionally, the games will be on local radio at WPNR 90.7 FM and PioneerRadio.org. Sports Information Assistant Ray Biggs '13 is back for an eleventh season of play-by-play with the team and will take you through both games.
Going for the Big One: Head Coach Gary Heenan and the Pioneers currently sit at 299 wins over the life of the program. A win this weekend puts the Pioneers and their only head coach at the 300 win mark. Heenan, the 2020 USCHO Division III National Coach of the Year, would become just the 93rd men's ice hockey coach in any division of the NCAA to reach 300 wins. He is also just five wins away from tying his college coach and mentor, Phil Grady, who has 304 wins.
In The Polls: Utica debuted at the #3 position in the first US College Hockey Online Men's Division III poll of the season, released on Monday. This was the first USCHO ranking release since March 23, 2020 where the Pioneers were also ranked third. Norwich remained in the top spot, and Geneseo remained in second place, with Adrian behind Utica in fourth after a tight weekend series. Utica has been ranked consistently in recent years. The last time they were unranked was in the February 11th, 2019 US College Hockey Online poll. UC has been ranked in 23 consecutive USCHO polls. Additionally, Utica was picked to win the United Collegiate Hockey Conference in the league's preseason coaches' poll.
Dominance at Home: Utica is 46-7-4 at home since current graduate students Brett Everson (Mississauga, Ontario/Hawkesbury (CCHL)), Jamie Bucell (Garfield Heights, OH/Philadelphia (EHL)), and Vaden McManus (Fayetteville, NC/Hampton Roads (USPHL)) joined the team for the 2017-18 season. Sunday's loss snapped a streak of fourteen straight regular season home wins for UC. The team's last regular season home loss was on November 23rd, 2019 against Elmira, by a 4-2 score. That Elmira loss halted another dominant home streak for UC, with the Pioneers winning 18 straight regular season conference home games prior to that night. The following weekend, the new regular season home winning streak began in Utica's Thanksgiving tournament wins over Plymouth State and Salve Regina.
Dominance Overall: In addition to their ownership of home ice, Utica's most experienced players have presided over a dominant four-plus year run. They hold an overall record of 75-17-5 in their careers here at Utica, with all four UCHC regular season titles to their name, and two postseason titles. Over the last two seasons, Utica has outscored opponents 206-75, and by a 149-49 score in conference play.
A Split Decision: Utica split its opening weekend series against Adrian College on Saturday and Sunday. The Pioneers rallied out of an 0-2 hole with three unanswered goals on Saturday to win 3-2 in overtime. Buster Larsson (Malmo, Sweden/Syracuse Stars (NCDC)) had the game-winning goal for UC. On Sunday, the Pioneers got out to a 3-1 lead in the first 27 minutes, but visiting Adrian pulled even on a pair of power play goals and weathered a strong third period to net the game-winner with under two minutes remaining.
Out of the Gate: Brandon Osmundson (Virginia Beach, VA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)) leads Utica out of the opening weekend with three points on two goals and one assist. He is the only Pioneer with a pair of goals in the opening weekend of play. Regen Cavanagh (Chesapeake, VA/Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)), John Moncovich (Wilmington, NC/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)), and Mic Curran (Arlington, MA/Curry College (CCC)) each have two points, with Cavanagh and Moncovich recording a goal and an assist, and Curran notching two assists in Sunday's loss. In Saturday's win, Cavanagh had a goal and an assist to spark the comeback. Louis Felix St. Jean became the first Utica netminder since Gianluca Baggetta on January 26th, 2020 to be credited with an assist, and St. Jean now has two for his career.
Dominating the Dots: The Pioneers did an exemplary job on faceoffs this weekend, as UC won 54.6 percent of the draws in the Adrian series. They won 71 of 130 faceoffs. In the season opener, Mic Curran (Arlington, MA/Curry College (CCC)) won 9 of 12, while captain Dante Zapata (Huntington Beach, CA/Austin Bruins (NAHL)) was entrusted with 22 draws and won 13 of them. Zapata went on to win 10 of 13 on Saturday.
On Special Teams: The sample sizes were small against a high quality opponent, but UC has left itself some room to grow on the special teams to start this season. The nation's best 2020-21 power play will be looking to get back on pace after a 1-for-13 performance this weekend, and the Pioneers will also be looking for a stronger penalty killing effort after a 6-for-8 start.
Putting it On Net: Utica generated 13 shots per game more than Adrian did in their opening series, with UC averaging 34 shots per game to Adrian's 21. Utica has out-shot its opponent in 21 straight games, a streak that began on Feburary 8th, 2020 against Saturday's opponent, Lebanon Valley. Last season, Utica averaged 17 shots per game more than their opponents. Individually, Regen Cavangh led UC with eight shots this weekend, while Brandon Osmundson (Virginia Beach, VA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)) and Jayson Dobay (Weymouth, MA/Youngstown Phantoms (USHL)) had six each.
Welcome Back, Eric: Eric Holland (Whitby, ON/Brockville Braves (CCHL)) netted his first goal of the season on a first period tally Sunday. The resurgent performance came on the heels of a long wait for the veteran forward. Holland missed all but one game last season, and the goal was his first since February 22nd, 2020.
In Goal: Goaltender Louis-Felix St. Jean (Montreal, Quebec/Salve Regina (CCC)) split his first two starts with Utica this weekend. The junior stopped 85.7 percent of shots for the weekend, with a GAA standing at 2.96.
Mileposts: If graduate student forward Brett Everson (Mississauga, Ontario/Hawkesbury (CCHL)) plays in both games this weekend, he will reach his 75th career appearance. Junior defenseman Justin Allen (Hilton, NY/Rochester Monarchs (USPHL-NCDC)) played in his 70th career game on Sunday, and still maintains a perfect record of being in the lineup each night of his career. Jamie Bucell (Garfield Heights, OH/Philadelphia (EHL)) needs just two more points for 40 career, and Regen Cavanagh (Chesapeake, VA/Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)) needs four more to hit 50 in his career. Junior forward Brandon Osmundson's (Virginia Beach, VA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)) next point will be the 60th of his career in just over 40 games. Osmundson is averaging 1.43 points per game for his career.
About Arcadia: The Knights are 0-2 to start their first season of hockey, and will make their conference debut at the Aud on Friday. They were swept by Aurora University by scores of 7-0 and 6-3 in their inaugural weekend. James Spargaaren scored twice for the Knights, and also had the program's first goal. Assisting on the program's inaugural tally was Whitesboro, NY native Dylan Infantino. Arcadia has not scored on its first 12 power play chances, and Aurora was 5-of-14 with the man advantage.
About Lebanon Valley: Lebanon Valley is 1-1 exiting its opening weekend.The Dutchmen lost 6-4 on the road to SUNY Cortland, before rebounding at home with a 5-4 win against Morrisville. LVC is set to open up league play at Naz on Friday before coming to Utica. Freshman and hometown product Cade Freer has five points on three goals and two assists, and senior Alex Borowiec has five points on two goals and three assists. The Lebanon Valley game will also feature some sibling rivalry, as LVC rookie defenseman Nolan Cavanagh is the brother of Regen Cavanagh (Chesapeake, VA/Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)). Aidan Richardson and Gabriel Pigeon have split the starts in net.
What's Next: Utica will head on the road next weekend to play Chatham on Friday, and Stevenson on Saturday.
