UTICA, NY - The Utica College men's ice hockey team seeks momentum after a strong win over Wilkes as it dives into another United Collegiate Hockey Conference matchup this weekend. The Pioneers will host Chatham University on Saturday, February 27th at 2 PM.

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 With Chatham: This will be the seventh All-Time meeting between Utica and Chatham. The Pioneers have claimed all six meetings between the two teams by a combined score of 46-5. In the first ever meeting between the two sides, the Pioneers netted a school-record thirteen goals in a 13-1 win. Last season, Utica won by scores of 9-3 and 6-0.

Unfortunately, Good Things Do End: UC had its school-record 20 game winning streak snapped on Friday night in a 3-2 loss at the hands of Wilkes. John Moncovich (Wilmington, NC/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)) and Nick Yzaguirre (Chicago, IL/Charlotte Rush (USPHL-Premier)) scored goals for the Pioneers, but a string of penalties in the third proved to make the comeback trail a challenging one. The contest was an offensive oddity in that it marked the first time since the winning streak began on December 6th, 2019 that the Pioneers had been held under three goals in a game. Sean Dickson (Millbrae, CA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL-Premier)) had 21 saves for UC in the loss.

Saturday Night's Alright For Scoring: The Pioneers delivered a weekend split with one of the most impressive offensive performances in the history of the program on Saturday. UC overturned a 3-2 second period deficit by scoring nine of the next eleven goals in the game as they cruised to an overwhelming 11-5 win. Jamie Bucell (Garfield Heights, OH/Philadelphia (EHL)) and Brett Everson (Mississauga, Ontario/Hawkesbury (CCHL)) were each credited with two goals and two assists to lead the Utica barrage, while Brandon Osmundson (Chesapeake, VA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)) scored back-to-back goals. Joseph Giacobbo (Deptford, NJ/Rockland Nationals (CCHL)) stopped 16 shots to earn the win as the Pioneers outshot the Colonels 40-21.

Milestone Watch: Senior forward Conor Landrigan (New Tripoli, PA/Binghamton Jr. Sens (NAHL)) had a four assist opening weekend and now stands at 94 points. Six more would make him just the fourth Pioneer to eclipse the 100 career point mark. He is sixth in school history with 36 career goals, and fifth with 57 career assists. One more assist would tie him with 2014 All-American Trever Hertz for fourth on the college's career list. Sophomore forward Brandon Osmundson (Chesapeake, VA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)) now has 45 points and needs five more to hit 50 for his career. Cameron Bartkoski (Dallas, TX/Amarillo Bulls (NAHL)) and Regen Cavanagh (Chesapeake, VA/Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)) each sit just five games played away from 50 for their careers.

A Broadly Scoped Attack: Utica had fifteen skaters get a point on the board in its first two games of the regular season, and eleven players wrapped up the weekend with multi-point efforts. Additionally, freshman defenseman Blake Holmes (Apple Valley, MN/Minnesota Wilderness (NAHL)) had an assist, and freshman forward Dylan McMahon (Kanata, Ontario/Kanata (CCHL)) scored a goal for their first collegiate points. The Pioneers are averaging an impressive 6.50 goals per game.

Player of the Week: Senior forward Jamie Bucell (Garfield Heights, OH/Philadelphia (EHL)) was remarkable during the first weekend of the regular season, and on Tuesday he was named the UCHC Player of the Week for the first time of his career. On Friday, he had an assist on a shorthanded goal. On Saturday, he had four points on two goals and two assists as the Pioneers cruised to victory. He is the second straight Pioneer to win the award after Brett Everson's (Mississauga, Ontario/Hawkesbury (CCHL)) heroics against the US Under-17 team in the previous week notched him the same award.

The Man They Call Yaz: Nick Yzaguirre (Chicago, IL/Charlotte Rush (USPHL-Premier)) posted in points for both games with two goals and an assist in the opening weekend for Utica, marking a significant step in the right direction for the Junior forward. Entering the game, he had just twelve career points on four goals and eight assists in his first two seasons. 

Who You Gonna Call: Sophomore forward Buster Larsson (Bunkeflostrand, Sweden/Syracuse Stars (NCDC)) recorded three points on a goal and two assists to put his own stamp on the start of the season. That performance continues on his output in the first exhibition game against Team USA where he rattled off a pair of goals. Larsson has shown visible improvement in his game as a second-year collegiate player, particularly in his strength on the puck and his shooting. He had nineteen points on seven goals and twelve assists as a freshman.

Big Bad John: With this weekend's games, Sophomore John Moncovich (Wilmington, NC/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)) has now scored a goal in four consecutive regular season and postseason games, with all four coming against Wilkes.

Pesky When It Counts: Utica has only lost seven games played between February 1st and the end of the season in the last six years. Over that time frame, the Pioneers are 36-7-3 when playing from the start of February to the conclusion of the season.

About Chatham: The Cougars are 2-3 overall, and 2-1 in the United Collegiate Hockey Conference. Chatham won 3-2 over Manhattanville to open conference play, before a 4-2 setback against Neumann the following day. They won a second time on Thursday with a 2-1 victory over Stevenson University. Michael Lamison leads the team with four points on two goals and two assists. Niko Moulakelis has two goals and an assist.  The Cougars are coached by first year head coach Michael Gershon.

Up Next: The Pioneers will play Elmira College in a UCHC Home-and-Home series on Friday, March 5th, and Saturday March 6th. Both contests will start at 7 p.m., with Utica hosting the Saturday game.