UTICA, NY - The Utica College men's ice hockey team will open up their 20th regular season in a big way this weekend. The Pioneers are slated to play a conference home-and-home against UCHC rivals Wilkes University in a rematch of last year's UCHC finals. On Friday, the Pioneers will hit the road to Wilkes-Barre, Pa. for a 6:45 p.m. start at the Toyota Sportsplex. On Saturday, the teams will convene again in Utica for a 7 p.m. faceoff at the Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.

Following Friday: Live video for Friday's game will be available at https://gowilkesu.com/sports/2015/7/31/GEN_0731155646.aspx for Friday's game. Live stats will be located at https://gowilkesu.com/sidearmstats/mhockey/summary. Friday's coverage is presented by Wilkes University Athletic Communications.

Follow Along Saturday: Per existing COVID-19 protocols, no spectators will be permitted on the premises at any Utica College Athletic event until further notice. Live video and stats for all UC Home Games are available at portal.stretchinternet.com/utica/. 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 on the free Empire 8 apps available for Roku, Amazon Fire, and AppleTV devices.

The Series Against Wilkes: These will be the seventh and eighth all-time meetings against Wilkes for Utica. The Pioneers stand a perfect 6-0 against the Colonels and have outscored them 29-9. The closest game in series history was also the first, as the Pioneers squeaked out a 2-1 win on a pair of goals by Regen Cavanagh (Chesapeake, VA/Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)) in December 2018. Since then, every game of the series has been decided by two or more goals in Utica's favor.

Every New Beginning Starts From Some Other Beginning's End: As Utica picks up the 2020-21 regular season, they will do so against the team they last played in a regular season or postseason game. Utica met Wilkes for the UCHC Championship Series, with the Pioneers claiming the series and their second title by a 2-0 series advantage. Utica won the two home contests by scores of 4-0 and 6-2. Dante Zapata (Huntington Beach, CA/Austin Bruins (NAHL)) scored three goals off the Colonels en route to being named the tournament's most outstanding player. John Moncovich (Wilmington, NC/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)) scored twice in the series as well in a definitive performance by Utica's freshman class which saw seven of the team's ten goals in the series netted by rookies. The series clinching goal belonged to Jamie Bucell (Garfield Heights, OH/Philadelphia (EHL)) with the game-winning goal in the second game. The Pioneer penalty kill padlocked a strong Wilkes power play unit and resigned them to an 0-for-6 conversion rate on the weekend. 

One For The Books: The 2019-20 season was an unforgettable campaign for the Pioneers and their fans. Utica won its second conference tournament championship, and claimed the second NCAA tournament bid in its history with a series sweep against Wilkes University in the UCHC Championship series. On their way to the postseason, the Blue and Orange claimed their seventh regular season conference championship with a 15-2-1 conference record. The title was their fourth straight. Utica smashed the program record for wins in a season with 25, and the team finished the year with an impeccable 25-2-2 overall record. Utica led Division III programs nationally in wins and winning percentage, and has closed out the season with a victory in two of the last three seasons. The program closed the year with its highest-ever national ranking in a year-end poll at the third position in the US College Hockey Online poll. They were the top overall seed in the NCAA tournament.

Splitting With Stars And Stripes: The Pioneers split a pre-season exhibition series with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program Under-17 team last week. In Thursday's opener, the Pioneers got a pair of goals in the first five minutes and had an answer for everything the visitors threw their way in a wild 6-5 win. On the game's final power play chance, Brett Everson (Mississauga, Ontario/Hawkesbury (CCHL)) netted the game-winning goal from the slot to lift Utica to the win. Everson finished the night with a three point outing, while Buster Larsson (Bunkeflostrand, Sweden/Syracuse Stars (NCDC)) added two goals. Dante Zapata (Huntington Beach, CA/Austin Bruins (NAHL)) and Blake Holmes (Apple Valley, MN/Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL)) each had a goal and an assist. Sean Dickson (Millbrae, CA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL-Premier)) stopped 36 of 41 to earn the win. Utica was 2-of-5 on the power play and perfect on the penalty kill. Team USA was paced by a hat trick effort from Isaac Howard in Thursday's game. On Friday, the Under-17 team answered back with a 3-0 shutout win. Joseph Giacobbo (Deptford, NJ/Rockland Nationals (CCHL)) was strong with a 33 save night, but USA Hockey netminder Kaiden Mberko became the first goaltender to shut Utica out in a game of any kind since the 2015-16 season. Utica is 3-2 all-time against the NTDP and is one of the only Division III programs that can claim a winning record against them.

On The Bench: Entering his 20th season, head coach Gary Heenan sports a record of 290-169-47. He is the 30th winningest Division III head coach in history, and needs just fourteen wins to tie his longtime friend, coach, and mentor Phil Grady of Hamilton College for 29th. Heenan has a 62 percent win rate, good for the fourteenth best winning percentage among active Division III head coaches. 

The Streak Stays Alive: Utica has won 20 consecutive regular season and postseason games, which currently stands as the longest active streak in NCAA men's ice hockey, and the seventh-longest winning streak in NCAA Division III men's ice hockey history. Last weekend's exhibition loss to the USA Under-17 team does not count against that streak, as the NTDP is not an NCAA member opponent. Utica has not lost a regular season or postseason game since December 6th, 2019 at Stevenson, and has not lost one at home since November 23rd, 2019 against Elmira. Over the course of their active winning streak, the Pioneers have outscored their opponents 115-37, and the UC offense has not been held under three goals.

Player of the Week: Brett Everson (Mississauga, Ontario/Hawkesbury (CCHL)) was selected as the United Collegiate Hockey Conference Player of the Week on Tuesday. Everson got the nod after his one goal, two assist performance in the Thursday win over the National Team Development Program. His goal was the game-winning goal. This marks his first Player of the Week award. He was the conference rookie of the week twice as a freshman. Everson currently sits squarely at 50 career points.

On The Attack: The Pioneers were second in the nation in scoring offense average last season with a school-record 5.07 goals per game. Any discussion about the Pioneers' potent offense begins with sophomore Brandon Osmundson (Chesapeake, VA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)), and senior Conor Landrigan (New Tripoli, PA/Binghamton Jr. Sens (NAHL)). Both players recorded over 40 points. Osmundson had thirteen goals, 29 assists, and 42 points last year and led the nation in points per game among rookies while also setting a new school record for points by a freshman.  He was the UCHC Rookie of the Year and USCHO's National Rookie of the Year. Landrigan was the UCHC's Co-Player of the Year and a second team All-American. He had 41 points on thirteen goals and 28 assists. He led the UCHC in points per game in conference contests, was third overall nationally in points per game (1.86), and is on an active sixteen game point streak. Landrigan currently has 90 career points and will have the potential for the century mark in the coming weeks.

Gotta Be The Shoes: After a tremendous rookie season, the table is set for second year forward Dante Zapata (Huntington Beach, CA/Austin Bruins (NAHL)) to make a charge to the forefront of the Pioneers' offensive plans. He was sixth on the team with 24 points total on 11 goals and thirteen assists, and was one of seven Pioneers with ten or more goals last year. He had a goal and an assist in the first game against Team USA to continue last year's tremendous momentum. Zapata has a point in all four games he has played against Wilkes in his career with three goals and two assists. He is riding a six game point streak.

About Wilkes: Entering their third season, the Colonels are fresh off an enlightening second season as they posted a 19-10 overall record and made the finals of the UCHC tournament. First team All-American forward Donald Flynn returns after leading the nation with 27 goals last year. He was the UCHC Co-Player of the Year alongside Conor Landrigan (New Tripoli, PA/Binghamton Jr. Sens (NAHL)). Second team All-American defenseman Michael Gurska is also back in the fold after recording 35 points last season. His 1.07 assists per game ranked eighth in the country, and his average of 1.21 points per game was third best among defensemen nationally.

Up Next: The Pioneers will play a conference weekend against Chatham and Manhattanville. Utica hosts Chatham on Saturday, February 27th at 7 p.m., and will duke it out with Manhattanville on Sunday, February 28th in a road matchup.