UTICA, NY - The Utica College women's ice hockey team begins its 20th season this weekend. The Pioneers will match up against Elmira College for a rare non-conference twinbill against their longtime conference rivals. Utica will visit Elmira on Friday, February 12th at 7 p.m., before hosting the Soaring Eagles on Saturday at 6 p.m inside the Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium. 

Per existing COVID-19 protocols, no spectators will be permitted on the premises at any Utica College Athletic event until further notice. Additionally, Elmira College has also announced that they will not permit spectators on the premises at this time. 

Follow Along: Live video and stats for all UC Home Games are available at portal.stretchinternet.com/utica/. Live video and stats for the game at Elmira can be found at portal.stretchinternet.com/elmira/. In addition, radio coverage of home games is generally available on WPNR 90.7 FM and PioneerRadio.org. Sports Information Assistant Ray Biggs '13 brings fans the home play-by-play for a tenth season, and will be joined by students from WPNR-FM throughout the season. Fans can also view home games, along with road games at Elmira and Nazareth, on the free Empire 8 apps available for Roku, Amazon Fire, and AppleTV devices.

Season In Review: The Pioneers capped off the 2019-20 season with a record of 9-16-1. The team had a winning record in United Collegiate Hockey Conference play at 9-6-1, and placed fourth in the North Division to qualify for the conference playoffs for an eighteenth time in nineteen years. The Pioneers were able to qualify for the postseason with a young roster that featured nine rookies getting regular playing time. The campaign ended with a loss in the conference quarterfinals at the hands of top-seeded Elmira College. Carolyn Whitney (Raleigh, NC/Milbrook School) had the lone Pioneer goal in the 5-1 loss, and was assisted by Georgiana Santullo (Woburn, MA/Boston Shamrocks/Woburn High School). The team's signature win of the year was a promising 4-1 win over a strong Nazareth team early in the season. Erica Sloan (Potsdam, NY/St. Lawrence Steel) had the first two goals of her career and added an assist, and Georgiana Santullo (Woburn, MA/Boston Shamrocks/Woburn High School) had two assists. Carolyn Whitney (Raleigh, NC/Milbrook School) and Abby Lillis (West Seneca, NY/Buffalo Bisons) each had their first collegiate goal in that contest.

Open It Up: The Pioneers have won two of their last three regular season openers, and have also won the majority of their last six with a 4-2 record since the 2014-15 season.

We Meet Again, and Again, and Again: With this week's scheduled games against Elmira, the Pioneers are set to meet the Soaring Eagles for a third and fourth straight game. Utica wrapped up the 2019-20 regular season against Elmira before meeting them again in the UCHC tournament six days later.

On The Bench: Head Coach Dave Clausen returns for his 20th season behind the bench at Utica, and remains the only head coach the program has ever had. He holds a career record of 277-194-32 and is the fifth-winningest active coach in Division III women's ice hockey. He is tied for 26th on the all-time wins list in all of Women's NCAA Ice Hockey, alongside highly successful former North Dakota head coach Brian Idalski. Clausen has recorded sixteen winning seasons and eighteen playoff appearances in nineteen years, while reaching the conference tournament finals twice. He has coached five All-Americans and three of his players have gone on to play professionally. Joining Clausen on the bench this season is newcomer Josh Graser as an assistant coach. Graser has Division I experience with Colgate, Vermont, and Canisius, and also holds international experience with the United States Women's 18u National Team.

Three's A Crowd: Utica's leadership group for the 2020-21 season will consist of three players representing three different classes. The Pioneers have had the good fortune to welcome back graduate student Rebecca Brown (Steamboat Springs, CO/Norwich University) to serve as the team's captain this season. Brown returns for a fifth season of intercollegiate hockey after appearing in just four games last season, and has been a dynamic presence ever since her arrival on campus. In three seasons here, she has collected 45 points on 18 goals and 27 assists. Her most productive season came as a sophomore when she delivered 23 points on six goals and 17 assists. Senior Lexi Stanisewski (Lawrence, MA/Boston Shamrocks) is the only fourth year senior on the Pioneer roster and will serve as an alternate captain. She is the team's active leader in assists (33), points (52), and games played (79). Stanisewski is a two-time All-UCHC honoree. Junior Georgiana Santullo (Woburn, MA/Boston Shamrocks/Woburn High School) completes the trio as an alternate captain and currently leads all active players in career goals with 20. She has an impressive 40 points in her first 52 games played. Stanisewski and Santullo have never missed a game at Utica.

Bidding Adieu: The Pioneers said goodbye to four seniors at the end of the 2019-20 season, as goaltender Bria Reilly (Hamden, CT/Brewster Academy), defender Kyra Borsoi (Brossard, Quebec/Holderness), forward Olivia Hirschy (Fort Wayne, IN/Culver Academies), and forward Ricki Haab (Stowe, VT/Stowe) capped off their collegiate careers in blue and orange. The quartet combined to contribute to 57 wins over four seasons at Utica. Reilly finished her career with eleven career shutouts to rank tied for second in the history of the program. Hirschy led that group in collegiate game experience with 93 appearances in four years, while also serving as the team's captain as a senior.

Flipping the Switch: The Pioneers offense picked up steam in the last two periods during the 2019-20 season. 48 of the team's 57 goals during the season came in the last two periods of regulation. Getting off to a stronger start will be vital to an improved season, as UC collected all of their victories last season when scoring first.

Looking Forward: In just two short seasons, junior Georgiana Santullo (Woburn, MA/Boston Shamrocks/Woburn High School) has emerged as one of the UCHC's omnipresent offensive threats. She tied for the team's lead in goals with nine, and points with 17, and is the team's returning leader or co-leader in both categories. The highlight of her season came on January 24th, 2020 when she notched her first career hat trick in a 6-2 win over Neumann University. She had an incredible 23 points on eleven goals and twelve assists during her freshman season, and was thirteenth in the nation amongst rookies with an average of 0.88 points per game. She is the team's active leader with 20 career goals, and four power play goals.

Rising Sophomores: Utica had two members of its current sophomore class rank in the top 50 nationally in points per game amongst rookies for the 2019-20 season. Carolyn Whitney (Raleigh, NC/Milbrook School) had a team-high nine goals, seven assists, and sixteen points and was tied for 29th with an average of 0.67 points per game. She was named to the UCHC All-Rookie team at the end of the season. Erica Sloan (Potsdam, NY/St. Lawrence Steel) was 36th at an average of 0.58 points per contest over 26 appearances. She had seven goals and eight assists for fifteen points. Sloan also had two power play goals to tie for the team lead.

By The Numbers: Utica ranked 39th in the nation in scoring offense last season with an average of 2.19 goals per game. Defensively, the Pioneers were 45th nationally at an average of 2.92 goals allowed per contest. The power play converted at 11.1 percent a season ago, while the penalty kill unit sported a 82.9 percent success rate. The team was fifteenth nationally in combined special teams.

Closing The Deal: Sophomore Carolyn Whitney (Raleigh, NC/Milbrook School) and Senior Lexi Stanisewski (Lawrence, MA/Boston Shamrocks) had a tendency to close out wins for the Pioneers a season ago. The pairing led the team with three game-winning goals apiece. That is good enough to rank in a tie for 34th nationally.

The First Time Around: The Pioneers will once again have a young roster at their disposal this season. That group includes eleven freshmen. Up front, Utica will welcome forwards Hailey Modlin (Phoenix, AZ/Boston Shamrocks), Cortney Staniszewski (Buffalo, NY/Niagara Jr. Purple Eagles), Hannah Keating (North Andover, MA/HPNA), Alexa Carlon (Lakewood, NY/Niagara Jr. Purple Eagles), and Carly Stefanini (Framingham, MA/Brooks School). On defense, the team will feature newcomers Nicole Flak (Middleton, MA/Boston Shamrocks), Nicole Fitzgerald (Mechanicsburg, PA/The Hill School), and Madison Novotny (Wesley Chapel, FL/Northwood School). Ellen Cook (Becket, MA/CT Northern Lights) is listed on the roster under both skating positions currently. In goal, Maddie Esposito (Ashburn, VA/Boston Shamrocks) and Angela Hawthorne (Santa Clara, CA/Meijer) will join the hunt for the starting goaltender job vacated by graduated senior Bria Reilly (Hamden, CT/Brewster Academy).

Welcome Home: UC Women's Hockey will have the luxury of once again including a homegrown player on this year's roster. New Hartford, NY native Erica Sheaffer (New Hartford, NY/Wilkes University) has transferred from Wilkes University for her sophomore season. Sheaffer ranked fifth on the Colonels' roster last season with seven points on four goals and three assists over 23 appearances. She also played goalkeeper on the women's lacrosse team at Wilkes.

On The Blue Line: In addition to a strong supplement of Freshmen, the Pioneers will not be short on available talent on the blue line. Juniors Sirena Fitzery (Hamburg, NY/Buffalo Bisons) and Lindsey Winter (Minneapolis, MN/Armstrong Cooper) will team up with sophomores Holly Silva (Boston, MA/Worcester Academy) and Ava Suda (Cheektowaga, NY/Buffalo Bisons). That entire quartet appeared in all 26 games last season, and Silva led all Utica defenders with six points as a first year player. Graduate student Rebecca Brown (Steamboat Springs, CO/Norwich University) and sophomore Erica Sheaffer (New Hartford, NY/Wilkes University) are returning players who can play either forward or defense as the team needs dictate.

In Goal: The challenge of earning the starting goaltending job will fall on a trio of players in 2021. The lone returning option is junior Savannah Gutierrez (Huntington Beach, CA/Anaheim Lady Ducks). Gutierrez is a graduate of the Anaheim Lady Ducks organization that produced Pioneer All-American Megan Myers. In two seasons with Utica, Gutierrez has started 7 games and has a 2-4-1 record and one shutout to her name. Also from the Golden State is freshman Angela Hawthorne (Santa Clara, CA/Meijer), who played her pre-collegiate hockey in the highly successful Meijer organization that plays out of Lansing, Michigan. Freshman Maddie Esposito (Ashburn, VA/Boston Shamrocks) played for the Boston Shamrocks organization that also produced current Pioneers Lexi Stanisewski (Lawrence, MA/Boston Shamrocks) and Georgiana Santullo (Woburn, MA/Boston Shamrocks/Woburn High School), along with newcomers Hailey Modlin (Phoenix, AZ/Boston Shamrocks) and Nicole Flak (Middleton, MA/Boston Shamrocks).

Up Next: The Pioneers will open conference play with a two game set against Manhattanville on Friday, February 19th, and Saturday, February 20th.