UTICA, NY - The #2 Utica University men's ice hockey team is set to open play in the 2022 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Championship tournament on Saturday, March 19th. The Pioneers will host the University of New England in a national quarterfinal game, with the winner earning the right to advance to the national semifinals in Lake Placid, NY. Puck drop on Saturday's quarterfinal game is slated for 2 p.m. at the Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.
Follow Along: Live Video and Stats are available for all Utica home games are available at portal.stretchinternet.com/utica/, and video is also available on the FREE Empire 8 app available for a multitude of streaming devices. Additionally, the game will be on local radio at WPNR 90.7 FM and PioneerRadio.org. Sports Information Assistant Ray Biggs '13 is back for an eleventh season of play-by-play with the team and will take you through Saturday's game.
How They Got Here: Utica holds a record of 25-2-1, and the team is undefeated in its last nineteen games, with wins in their last five outings. They advanced to the NCAA tournament as the United Collegiate Hockey Conference champion, earning an automatic bid in the process. The Pioneers are the tournament's second overall seed, and the top seed in the East region. They enjoyed a first round bye last weekend. The University of New England is 22-3-1, and the Nor'easters have won their last twelve games. The Nor'Easters are the ninth overall seed in the tournament, and qualified by winning the Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship. UNE needed double overtime to dispose of upset-hungry Plymouth State. The Nor'easters got the winning goal at 4:10 of the second overtime by way of senior forward Austin Morgan to win by a 3-2 score.
At Stake: A spot in the NCAA Division III Semifinals in Lake Placid, NY. The winner of this game will play the winner of the quarterfinal game between Babson and Geneseo in a semifinal game on Friday, March 25th. A trip to the semifinals would be Utica's second, while the University of New England has not advanced beyond the quarterfinals in two previous tournament appearances. Utica also has a school-record 26th win in a single season hanging in the balance on Saturday, while also having the opportunity to pull level with the program-record 20 game unbeaten streak set in the 2019-20 season.
Walking Down Memory Lane: The last time the Pioneers hosted a quarterfinal, or played in an NCAA tournament game was in 2013. That year, another team from Maine, Bowdoin College, entered the Aud for a battle with the Pioneers. After spotting the visiting Polar Bears a 2-0 lead in the first period, Utica rallied back with four unanswered goals by Jordan Hobaica, Trever Hertz, Ridge Garbutt, and Eric Peterson to take the win and advance to a national semifinal that, coincidentally, was also in Lake Placid. The Pioneers fell by a 5-1 score to UW-Eau Claire in the semifinal round.
Last Time Out: Utica topped visiting Wilkes by a 7-4 score to win the program's third United Collegiate Hockey Conference tournament championship on March 5th. The Pioneers scored the first five goals of the game, and the Utica special teams scored three goals to build up a large enough gap to remain in the clear against a late comeback attempt. Regen Cavanagh (Chesapeake, VA/Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)) led the Pioneers with two goals and an assist.
Inside The Streak: Over Utica's 19 game unbeaten streak, the Pioneers have been playing to a standard that is difficult to top in college hockey circles. In the time since their last loss on November 27th, Utica has out-scored its opposition by a 115-23 score. Over that time, they are averaging 6.05 goals per game, allowing an average of just 1.21 goals per game, and the power play alone is averaging two goals a game since early December. With 38 power play goals over that time, the Pioneers managed to score more goals on their power play than two Division III members scored during the entire season.
Record Watch: For Regen Cavanagh (Chesapeake, VA/Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)) (20-26-46) and Buster Larsson (Malmo, Sweden/Utica Jr. Comets (NCDC))(16-30-46), their next point is a big one. Both players sit at 46 points, which is tied for the school's single-season record alongside Gregg Burmaster and Jimmy Sokol. Sokol set the long-standing school mark during the 2003-04 season, while Burmaster equalled it during the 2018-19 season. With his 30th assist of the season, Larsson has already pulled even with one of Sokol's long-standing records, but the junior forward is competing with senior defenseman Justin Allen (Hilton, NY/Rochester Monarchs (USPHL-NCDC)) for the record at season's end, as Allen has a school-record and team-leading 32 assists this year. Cavanagh and Larsson are tied for fifth nationally in points per game at 1.64 points per game. Cavanagh is also averaging 0.71 goals per game to rank 12th nationally. Allen's 1.43 points per game are tops among defensemen nationally. Allen (8-32-40) is the 2022 UCHC Defensive Player of the Year, and the first Utica defenseman to ever hit 40 points in a single season. He has a point in five consecutive games, with ten assists over that time. Saturday will mark the 97th consecutive game in his remarkable ironman streak. All three players were named to the All-UCHC First Team.
Oh, Captain, Our Captain: When crunch time arrives in the postseason and late regular season, look to junior forward Dante Zapata (Huntington Beach, CA/Austin Bruins (NAHL)) to produce. The 2022 United Collegiate Hockey Conference Player of the Year has saved his best for the end this season, rattling off thirteen points (3 goals, 10 assists) in his last five games. He is third on the team with 43 total points on sixteen goals and 27 assists. His eight power play goals rank fifth in the nation, and his 1.54 points per game rank thirteenth. He is now a two-time UCHC All-Tournament team selection in his career.
Dobay Delivers: Sophomore defenseman Jayson Dobay (Weymouth, MA/Youngstown Phantoms (USHL)) entered the program last season as one of its highest-regarded recruits ever. In the latter half of his second season, the slick playmaking defenseman has shifted into a higher gear. Since returning from the winter break, Dobay has six goals and 23 assists for 29 points in his last 17 games. Over the course of this season, he is seventh on the team with 35 points on seven goals and 28 assists. Dobay is eighth nationally in assists per game as he averages exactly an assist a night. He is also 36th nationally among all skaters in points per game at an average of 1.25. Dobay was a first team All-Conference selection this year, and was the UCHC tournament MVP.
In Goal: Senior netminder Sean Dickson (San Francisco, CA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL-Premier)) is delivering in a huge way for the Pioneers this season. Saturday's likely starter sports a record of 16-1 with four shutouts this season, and has won eleven consecutive starts. His save percentage of 92.8 percent ranks fourteenth nationally, while his goals against average of 1.35 leads the country. He will be seeking his 30th career victory on Saturday.
Big Time Numbers: This season, the Pioneers rank tops in the nation in power play percentage at 35.0 percent. They are also first in scoring defense at 1.36 goals allowed per game, and scoring margin at 4.50 goals per game. The Pioneers are second nationally in scoring offense at 5.86 goals per game, trailing only top-seeded Adrian in that category. They are also third in penalty killing percentage with an 89.5 percent success rate.
About the Nor'Easters: The University of New England, ranked eighth in the latest USCHO men's top 15, enters with a 22-3-1 record. They have won their last twelve games entering this quarterfinal. They average 4.2 goals per game to rank tenth nationally in scoring offense, and allow 2.3 per contest, and their power play operates at a solid 24.3 percent. They have a vastly experienced roster with nine seniors and three graduate students, many of whom have played in the team's previous tourney appearances in 2018 and 2019. Junior forward Jake Fuss leads the team with 37 points on 11 goals and 26 assists. Billy Girard will likely get the nod in goal after making 24 starts this season. He'll carry a record of 20-3-1 into this game, along with a goals against average of 2.21. This will be the second all-time meeting between the two teams in regular season or postseason play, with UNE holding the win in the only matchup.
