UTICA, NY - The top-seeded Utica College men's ice hockey team is set to battle fourth seeded Elmira College in a United Collegiate Hockey Conference semifinal on Friday, April 2nd. The Pioneers and Soaring Eagles will do battle with a spot in the conference championship on the line at 7 p.m. inside the Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.

Follow Along: Live video and stats will be provided for all home games at portal.stretchinternet.com/utica/. Sports Information Assistant Ray Biggs '13 has the call for a tenth season. Owners of devices such as Roku, Amazon Fire, and AppleTV can download the Empire 8 app to watch home games.

Welcome Back: For the first time this season, a limited number of fans will be permitted in the building for Friday's game. A maximum of 400 will be admitted, with ticket sales on a first-come, first-serve basis. All individuals entering the building must wear an acceptable face covering at all times; must show documentation of full COVID-19 vaccination or a negative PCR test result from within the 72 hours of game time or a negative rapid antigen test result from within six hours of game time; and must adhere to all other health and safety guidelines. Full details on how you can attend are available at https://ucpioneers.com/news/2021/4/1/mens-ice-hockey-mens-hockey-announces-ticket-sales-for-uchc-semifinal.aspx.

On The Line: Utica seeks its sixth consecutive appearance in the conference finals, and their third championship, which would mark back-to-back titles for the first time in program history. Elmira is seeking its first championship berth since the inaugural UCHC finals in 2018, a game which the Soaring Eagles lost to Utica by an 8-3 score.

Where It's At: Utica is now 8-1 this season, and has won eight consecutive games. They were the conference regular season champions for a fifth straight year, and for a fourth straight time as a UCHC member. The Pioneers have won 28 of their last 29 games. This season, they are crushing the opposition by a 58-16 margin, good for an average margin of 4.67 goals per game against their competitors.

Last Time Out: Utica played a scoreless first period against eighth-seeded Manhattanville, but the floodgates opened in the second period as the Pioneers surged to a 9-0 win over the Valiants in the quarterfinals. Conor Landrigan (New Tripoli, PA/Binghamton Jr. Sens (NAHL)) led the Pioneers with two goals and two assists, Dylan McMahon (Kanata, Ontario/Kanata (CCHL)) had a multi-goal game for the first time in his career, and John Moncovich (Wilmington, NC/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)) also scored twice. Fifteen different Pioneers had at least one point, and the power play unit was electrifying at 4-of-7. In goal, Sean Dickson (Millbrae, CA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL-Premier)) had a 12 save shutout for his school-record fourth shutout of the season. He passed co-record holders Gianluca Baggetta (Maple, Ontario/North York (OJHL)) and Adam Dekker in that category.

What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been: Utica swept the season series against the Soaring Eagles by scores of 7-1 and 7-5 this season. In a 7-1 win at Elmira on March 5th, Dante Zapata (Huntington Beach, CA/Austin Bruins (NAHL)) had two goals and two assists while the Pioneers scored the first three goals of the game on their way to a convincing win. The second meeting got a bit more complicated on March 6th. Utica had two goals apiece from Conor Landrigan (New Tripoli, PA/Binghamton Jr. Sens (NAHL)) and Jamie Bucell (Garfield Heights, OH/Philadelphia (EHL)) to build a 5-2 lead through the first two periods at the Aud before the game was suspended. When the game picked up on Tuesday, March 23rd in Elmira, the Soaring Eagles bounced back in the opening minutes of the third period with three goals to tie the score at 5. That momentum died off when Jamie Bucell (Garfield Heights, OH/Philadelphia (EHL)) came to the rescue with a hat trick goal with around six minutes to go that ultimately would stand as the game-winner. Brett Everson (Mississauga, Ontario/Hawkesbury (CCHL)) scored on an empty net to seal a 7-5 split-site win that lasted 18 days. Landrigan recorded the 100th point of his career during the second game.

Numbers Against The Soaring Eagles: Conor Landrigan (New Tripoli, PA/Binghamton Jr. Sens (NAHL)) has six points this season in two games against Elmira with three goals and three assists. Dante Zapata (Huntington Beach, CA/Austin Bruins (NAHL)) has five points on two goals and three assists. Jamie Bucell (Garfield Heights, OH/Philadelphia (EHL)) has three goals and an assist. Buster Larsson (Bunkeflostrand, Sweden/Syracuse Stars (NCDC)) had a goal and three assists. Dickson was the winning goaltender of record in both contests. The Utica power play was 5-11 in the pair of games, and Utica has cumulatively outshot the Soaring Eagles 73-48.

The Machine Keeps Running: Senior forward Conor Landrigan (New Tripoli, PA/Binghamton Jr. Sens (NAHL)) just continues to mow down his competition. The Pioneer captain continues to lead the nation in points per game at an eye-popping 2.67. Additionally, his total of 24 points ranks seventh in the nation, and every single player in front of him on that list has played more than 20 games, while Landrigan and the Pioneers have played in just nine. He is tied for fourth nationally in goals per game, and leads the nation with an average of 1.67 per game. Just six players in the nation are averaging two points a game or better. He has a point now in 25 consecutive games, and has not been held without a point in a college hockey game in 453 days. He has nine goals and fifteen assists for 24 points.

Back In His Element: Sophomore forward Dante Zapata (Huntington Beach, CA/Austin Bruins (NAHL)) was the Most Outstanding Player of last year's tournament, and has continued that momentum through his second season with the team. He has five goals and nine assists for fourteen points. He added an assist in last night's contest, and has never been held without a point in a playoff game in the five he's played.

Emerging Into The Limelight: Justin Allen (Rochester, NY/Rochester Monarchs (USPHL-NCDC)) has quietly amassed a seven game point streak down the stretch this season. While he's played a big role, the streak is somewhat quiet in the sense that every point over the course of his season has been an assist. The junior has 11 assists in his last seven games and is now fourth in the nation in points per game among defensemen with an average of 1.22. He is tied with Elmira's Daniel Dimon for the third most assists by a defenseman in the conference. Jayson Dobay (Weymouth, MA/Youngstown Phantoms (USHL)) has also played extremely well as of late, and his eight points on three goals and five assists have him at an average of 0.89 points per game, good for 20th nationally among defensemen.

The Big Buce: Jamie Bucell (Garfield Heights, OH/Philadelphia (EHL)) has continued to provide some veteran leadership offensively. He is one of only two Pioneers with multiple game-winning goals while having a convincing career best season. Before this season, Bucell's previous career best was 11 points in 22 games. This season, he has fifteen on eight goals and seven assists in only nine games.

Offensive Balance: Utica continues to hum along offensively at a school record per-game pace of 6.44 goals per game, which leads the country. They have seven players in the top 100 in goals per game nationally. Conor Landrigan (New Tripoli, PA/Binghamton Jr. Sens (NAHL)) is tied for fourth and is one of the only players averaging a goal a game or better in the nation. Jamie Bucell (Garfield Heights, OH/Philadelphia (EHL)) is thirteenth(0.89), and Brett Everson (Mississauga, Ontario/Hawkesbury (CCHL)) is fourteenth (0.88). Bucell has eight goals while Everson sports seven. Buster Larsson (Bunkeflostrand, Sweden/Syracuse Stars (NCDC)) is 27th on that list with his six goals this season, and Osmundson, Zapata, and Moncovich are tied for 55th. The Pioneers also have nine players in the top 100 nationally in points per game.

On Special Teams: Utica's power play unit continues to turn heads in 2021. The Pioneers are currently on pace to finish with their best-ever percentage on the power play at an astounding 41.9 percent, a number that leads the nation. Landrigan is fifth in the nation with five power play goals, and Everson is seventh with four. The Utica Penalty kill is now at an 82.9 percent success rate, and Nick Yzaguirre (Chicago, IL/Charlotte Rush (USPHL-Premier)) leads the nation with two shorthanded goals.

In Goal: Sean Dickson (Millbrae, CA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL-Premier)) is the likely starter for the semifinals after taking firm command of the net recently. Dickson has an immaculate 96.6 percent save percentage and 0.64 GAA, figures that lead the country among any goaltender who has played a conference schedule this year, and stand second overall. He broke the school's single season shutout record in the quarterfinals, and currently has a shutout streak of 195:38 between starting and relief appearances.

About Elmira: The Soaring Eagles are 8-4-1 overall, and were 6-3-1 in conference. The top two scorers on the team are freshmen, with Sean Kennedy holding sixteen points on seven goals and nine assists, and Ryan Reifler posting a fifteen point season to this point. Chris Janzen remains the top option in goal with a 6-4-1 overall record. 

Up Next: The winner of this game will meet the winner of No. 3 Wilkes and No. 2 Stevenson in the championship game. The tentative date of the finals will be Monday, April 5th, and will be hosted by the higher seed. Utica will host with a win.