UTICA, NY - The Utica College women's ice hockey team will open conference play this weekend with a UCHC twinbill against Manhattanville College. The Pioneers will host the Valiants on Friday with a 7:00 PM faceoff inside the Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium. On Saturday, Utica will visit Manhattanville with an 8:20 PM puck drop at the Westchester Skating Academy.

Follow Along Friday: 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/. 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.

Coverage for Saturday: Live video for Saturday's game is available at https://govaliants.com/watch, with live stats also available at http://www.sidearmstats.com/manhattanville/whockey/. Coverage for Saturday is presented by Manhattanville Athletic Communications.

Note The Change: With a short season, and the new NCAA overtime rules converting the extra session to 3-on-3, the UCHC Women's Coaches have decided to switch to and utilize a similar point system to the one used by the conference's men's hockey programs in recent seasons. If the game is tied after 60 minutes, overtime will be a 5 minute 3-on-3 period followed by a three round shootout. Overtime wins and losses will count as a win or loss on the team's record, while the game is officially a tie if it advances to the shootout, although the shootout will take place to determine the allocation of the three points available. A team will get 3 points for a regulation win, 2 for an overtime or shootout win, 1 for an overtime or shootout loss, and 0 for a regulation loss.

The Series Against Manhattanville: These will be the fourteenth and fifteenth all-time meetings against Manhattanville. Utica is 4-8-1 against the Valiants between conference and non-conference competition in the last 20 years. Manhattanville has won three of the last four meetings, including the most recent on January 25th, 2020 by a 3-0 score. January 9th, 2019 marked Utica's most recent win in the series, a 2-0 win where Lexi Stanisewski (Lawrence, MA/Boston Shamrocks) scored a goal, and Sirena Fitzery (Hamburg, NY/Buffalo Bisons) added an assist. Among active skaters, Stanisewski has a goal and an assist, Maddie Paydos (Simsbury, CT/Vermont Academy) has a goal, Caley Susitti (Hartland, WI/Milwaukee Jr. Admirals) has three career assists, and Fitzery has an assist against the Valiants. A close game is likely between the two sides, with five of the last six meetings decided by two goals or less. Three of Utica's four wins in the series have come at home.

Splitting It Up: With their originally scheduled opening non-conference series put on the shelf, the Pioneers refocused their attention on a home-and-home weekend series against Castleton. The teams each won their home leg of the series for a 1-1 split over the two games. On Friday at Castleton, the Pioneers dropped a 2-1 decision despite carrying time of possession much of the way. Carly Stefanini (Framingham, MA/Brooks School) scored a first period goal for the Pioneers assisted by rookie classmate Nicole Flak (Middleton, MA/Boston Shamrocks), but Castleton's Darby Palisi broke a 1-1 tie with a second period power play goal to seal the deal on a 2-1 win for the Spartans. Savannah Gutierrez (Huntington Beach, CA/Anaheim Lady Ducks) stopped 18 of 20 shots in her season debut. On Saturday, the Pioneers produced a much more thunderous offensive effort as they exploded for five goals in a 5-1 win at home. Utica scored the first four goals of the game as Maggie Rylott (Cobourg, Ontario/West Northumberland), Carolyn Whitney (Raleigh, NC/Milbrook School), Erica Sloan (Potsdam, NY/St. Lawrence Steel), and Stefanini each scored before Castleton got on the board with Palisi's second power play strike of the weekend. Stefanini added insurance with her second goal of the game late in the period, and the teams played a scoreless third period. Stefanini scored a pair of goals, while Whitney finished with a goal and two assists, and Georgiana Santullo (Woburn, MA/Boston Shamrocks/Woburn High School) had a two assist outing for Utica. Rookie netminder Angela Hawthorne (Santa Clara, CA/Meijer) was outstanding with a 26 save performance on 27 Castleton shots.

Sweeping It: The Pioneers swept the UCHC Weekly Awards for the opening weekend of play in the 2020-21 season. Sophomore forward Carolyn Whitney (Raleigh, NC/Milbrook School) was named the conference's Player of the Week, while Carly Stefanini (Framingham, MA/Brooks School) nabbed Rookie of the Week and goaltender Angela Hawthorne (Santa Clara, CA/Meijer) snagged Goaltender of the Week honors.

Stacking The Wins: Utica has a winning record in conference play in each of the last five seasons, and have been .500 or better in league play in the last eight years. Last year, all nine wins in UC's 9-16-1 overall record came in UCHC play. The Pioneers have 29 conference wins over the last three seasons.

Depth and Continutity: Utica was able to work in a variety of players into the opening weekend lineup with 22 skaters and two goaltenders getting the opportunity to play. Sixteen players appeared in both contests, including juniors Georgiana Santullo (Woburn, MA/Boston Shamrocks/Woburn High School) and Sirena Fitzery (Hamburg, NY/Buffalo Bisons), who keep their ironwoman streaks alive at 54 straight games, and senior Lexi Stanisewski (Lawrence, MA/Boston Shamrocks), who has now appeared in 81 games in a row. Across the lineup, eleven players had a point in the opening weekend of play.

Keep The Puck: It was a weekend of firsts for the Pioneers, as four different rookie skaters recorded their first career collegiate point against Castleton. Carly Stefanini (Framingham, MA/Brooks School) scored a trio of goals, while Nicole Flak (Middleton, MA/Boston Shamrocks), Cortney Staniszewski (Buffalo, NY/Niagara Jr. Purple Eagles), and Alexa Carlon (Lakewood, NY/Niagara Jr. Purple Eagles) each contributed an assist.

Milestone Watch: As she readies to play her 70th and 71st career games, graduate student Rebecca Brown (Steamboat Springs, CO/Norwich University) will be shooting to hit the 50 point mark for her career. The fourth-year Pioneer and fifth-year Collegian has 18 goals and 27 assists for 45 career points. Carolyn Whitney (Raleigh, NC/Milbrook School) also needs just one point to reach 20 for her career.

By Last Year's 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.

About Manhattanville: The Valiants had a terrific 2019-20 season with a 17-8-3 overall record, and a ledger of 13-2-1 in league play to win the UCHC South Division Title. Their season ended with a 5-3 loss to Elmira in the UCHC Championship game. However, change is in the air at Manhattanville with first year head coach Jennifer MacKaskill replacing Dave Turco after nine seasons. Additionally, just two of Manhattanville's top seven scorers return between Tianna Lopes (17-26-43), and Taylor Ham (13-12-25). A trio of players from national power Gustavus Adolphus have transferred to Manhattanville, and New Hartford native Kerry Carr has transferred from Chatham for her first season with the Valiants. Lena Flores is the team's top returning netminder.

Up Next: Utica will match up with Nazareth College in a UCHC Home-and-Home series on Friday, February 26th, and Saturday, February 27th. The Pioneers will hit the road to Rochester on Friday, before welcoming the Golden Flyers for a Saturday game. Both contests will begin at 7 p.m.