UTICA, NY - All good things must somehow come to an end. Such was the story for the #2 Utica University men's ice hockey team. The ninth-seeded University of New England Nor'easters got a shorthanded goal from Daniel Winslow in the second period, and a shutout from netminder Billy Gerard did the rest as UNE upset the second-seeded Pioneers 2-0 in an NCAA Quarterfinal game at the Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.
The Pioneers snap a nineteen game unbeaten streak and fall to a final record of 25-3-1. UNE improves to 23-3-1, and advances to the national semifinals on Friday, March 25th in Lake Placid, NY.
Utica out-shot the visitors 38-17 for the game, and the two sides combined to go 0-for-4 on the power play. The Pioneers were shut out for just the second time this season.
For Utica, defenseman Jayson Dobay (Weymouth, MA/Youngstown Phantoms (USHL)) had a team-high six shots on goal. Senior netminder Sean Dickson (San Francisco, CA/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL-Premier)) stopped 15 of 16 shots in the loss.
For UNE, netminder Billy Girard made 38 saves for his second shutout of the season. That included 20 saves in the third period. Daniel Winslow and Tyler Seltenreich had the goals for the team from Biddeford, Maine, while Aaron Aragon had two assists.
The game opened with a tight-checking first period that ended with no score. Utica held a 7-6 edge in shots after one period of play.
The game changed on Utica's first power play chance as UNE's Chad Merrell was boxed for tripping at 11:55. At 12:41 of the period, the Nor'easters stole the puck in their own zone and Aragon launched a long pass to Winslow to spring a breakaway. Winslow danced in on Dickson and slipped the puck behind him for a 1-0 lead and the game-winning goal. The Pioneers appeared to have made a good enough bid to tie the game as Cameron Patton (Truro, Nova Scotia/Yarmouth Mariners (MJAHL)) jammed the puck towards the goal line in the latter half of the period, but it was to no avail as the goal was waved off. The Pioneers turned up the intensity with a late second period shooting gallery, but nothing came of it as UNE led after two periods.
The Pioneers out-shot the Nor'easters 20-7 in the third, but multiple power play chances weren't enough to help lift the home team to a tie score. UNE's Tyler Seltenreich scored on an empty net with 25 seconds left, and the visiting team punched its ticket to Lake Placid by a 2-0 score.
Graduate students Brett Everson (Mississauga, Ontario/Hawkesbury (CCHL)), Jamie Bucell (Garfield Heights, OH/Philadelphia (EHL)), and Vaden McManus (Fayetteville, NC/Hampton Roads (USPHL)) leave the program with the team totaling an incredible 99 wins, five regular season titles, all three conference tournament titles for the program, and two NCAA tournament berths.
