UTICA, NY – The Utica University women's ice hockey team returns to action for their first regular season game of the 2022-23 season on Friday, October 28th. The Pioneers will battle #4 Elmira College in non-conference play at the Murray Athletic Center in Elmira, NY. Puck drop is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
Follow Along: Elmira College Athletic Communications will provide live video and stats at portal.stretchinternet.com/elmira. You can also watch on the FREE Empire 8 Conference app available on Roku, Amazon Fire, AppleTV, and AndroidTV devices.
Last Time Out: The Pioneers hosted #11 Norwich University for an exhibition at the Aud on Sunday, October 23rd. Utica competed well against the nationally-ranked Cadets, but fell by a 1-0 score. A second period goal scored by Norwich's Taylor Girouard was the difference-maker. Senior defender Ava Suda (Cheektowaga, NY/Buffalo Bisons) had a team-best three shots on goal for the Pioneers. Angela Hawthorne (Santa Clara, CA/Meijer) turned away 32 saves in her first competitive action of the season.
Wrapping Up Last Year: The Pioneers set a new single season record for wins with a 21-6-0 overall record, and secured the second overall seed in the conference tournament with a 17-3-0 mark in the UCHC. They stayed in the regular season title race until the final weekend. The Pioneers advanced out of their conference quarterfinal against Alvernia, before falling in overtime in their semifinal matchup with Manhattanville by a 3-2 score. During the season, the Pioneers recorded a weekend sweep of a conference opponent eight times.
By The Numbers: Utica had a record-shattering season, and the team numbers were particularly dominant throughout the 2021-22 campaign. The Blue and Orange averaged 5.63 goals per game to rank second in the nation in scoring offense, and conceded just 1.44 goals per game to rank eleventh in scoring defense. On Special Teams, the Pioneers had the nation's fifth-best power play at 29.5 percent, and the penalty kill unit was seventh at 90.9 percent. Just ten teams nationally were over 90 percent. The program set new single-season program records for wins (21), conference wins (17), goals (152), assists (252), points (404), goals per game (5.6), shorthanded goals (10), shutouts (10), and goals against average (1.4).
The Santullo Show: Graduate student Georgiana Santullo (Woburn, MA/Boston Shamrocks/Woburn High School) returns for her fifth year with the team on the heels of a record-breaking season that netted her UCHC Player of the Year and First Team All-American honors. Santullo reached new heights last season, as she broke the program's single-season records for goals (29) and points (55), both of which stood for 18 years. She finished her senior season ranked first nationally in power play goals (nine), second nationally in goals per game (1.12) and third in points per game (2.12). Santullo also now owns the Utica single-season record for points per game, and she is tied for first in power play goals. She also ranks sixth all-time with 105 career points.
Not Sloan Down: Alongside Santullo, senior Erica Sloan (Potsdam, NY/St. Lawrence Steel) also had an incredible 2021-22 season at forward. She finished her junior season tied for third all-time for points in a single season (52). Her 24 goals on the year also rank third in the program's record book. Sloan also racked up 28 assists to go along with a school record plus/minus of 49. Her 1.93 points per game placed her fifth nationally and fourth in program history. Sloan finished the year ranked fourth nationally with three short-handed goals. Her six points in a win over Stevenson marked the second-highest single game point total in the nation last season. She finished the season with four hat tricks, including a four goal outing in a win over Wilkes. Sloan was also fifth in the nation with 1.04 assists per game. She was chosen to the UCHC's All-Conference First Team at the end of the campaign.
Between The Pipes: Junior goaltender Angela Hawthorne (Santa Clara, CA/Meijer) returns as the conference's top netminder entering the 2022-23 season. The UCHC Goaltender of the Year finished her sophomore season with a 14-3 overall record and six shutouts to also land on the UCHC All-Conference First Team. Her six shutouts not only placed her fifth nationally, but were enough to rank second in a single-season in program history. Hawthorne's .942 save percentage tied the program record, and her 1.22 goals against average is now first in Utica's program history for a single-season.
Don't Sleep on Stefanini: Junior forward Carly Stefanini (Framingham, MA/Brooks School) has averaged over a point a game in her first two seasons in Blue and Orange, with 18 career goals and 30 assists. Her 28 assists last season tied her for fifth in the nation with 1.04 assists per game, and marked a 26 assist improvement over her rookie year. She also maintained her goal scoring pace with twelve goals, which doubled her previous season's total with just over twice the number of games. She was an Honorable Mention All-Conference pick.
Novo Said No Way: Junior defender Madison Novotny (Wesley Chapel, FL/Northwood School) was also named to the All-UCHC first team last season, and comes back to the roster as the bona fide leader of the defensive corps with Sirena Fitzery's (Hamburg, NY/Buffalo Bisons) graduation. She set new career highs in goals (three), assists (15), and points (18). She also helped lead the Utica defense which ranked second in the conference allowing just 1.44 goals per game.
Seniority Rules: Among the other important players returning to the roster are a trio of talented senior forwards. Maggie Rylott's (Cobourg, Ontario/West Northumberland) junior season yielded 27 points on seven goals and twenty assists, Carolyn Whitney (Raleigh, NC/Milbrook School) had fourteen goals and sixteen assists for 30 points, and Abby Lillis (West Seneca, NY/Buffalo Bisons) returns after netting sixteen points on four goals and twelve assists.
Who's New: The Pioneers have a very short list of newcomers this season. At forward is Kaci Ryder (Shrewsbury, MA/WC Swans ), Kelsey Elliott (Attleboro, MA/East Coast Wizards) can play either skater position, Tess Barrett (Tewksbury, MA/St. Mark's) joins as an intriguing prospect on defense that could play big minutes right away, and Breese Burlingame (Binghamton, NY/Northfield Mount Herman) shores up the goaltending depth and is the team's tallest netminder at 6-foot-1.
Scouting Elmira: The Elmira College Soaring Eagles are ranked fourth in the USCHO Preseason Poll released recently. They finished with an overall record of 25-4-1 last season and return seven of their top nine scorers last season including leading scorer Morgan Mordini, who had 43 points last season. The Soaring Eagles are also highlighted by their goalie Leonie-Louise Kuehberger who only allowed an incredible 1.12 goals per game in her freshman campaign. However, some change is in the cards for the Soaring Eagles. Friday's game marks the debut of new head coach Jake Bobrowski, who moves to the Empire State after coaching stints at Hamline University and the University of Minnesota.
Up next: The Pioneers will begin conference play next weekend as they host Arcadia University on Friday, November 4th at 7 p.m. and Saturday November 5th at 2:30 p.m. in Utica at the Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.
