UTICA, NY - The No. 4 Utica University men's hockey team will travel to (RV) Oswego State this Saturday for its final game before the semester break. Puck drop from Oswego, NY is set for 7 p.m. 
 
Follow Along: Oswego will provide live stats through https://oswegolakers.com/sidearmstats/mhockey/summary and live video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI4bBJ8cHMg. 
 
Last Time Out: The No. 4 Utica University men's hockey team made a statement against NCAA Division I Stonehill College in the 19th annual New York Sash Teddy Bear Toss game last Friday. After going down 1-0 early, Utica dominated the rest of the night. Drake Morse (Grand Rapids, MI/Shreveport Mudbugs (NAHL)) and Eric Vitale (Toronto, ON/Shreveport Mudbugs (NAHL)) starred in the matchup, as Morse paced the offense with a hat-trick and an assist while Vitale scored the teddy bear toss goal and added two assists in the team's 7-2 win over the Skyhawks. Jakob Breault (Acton Vale, QC/Alaska-Fairbanks (NCAA DI)) and Brian Scoville (Agawam, MA/Alabama-Huntsville (NCAA DI)) each provided three points with a goal and pair of assists. Aiden Hughes (Mississauga, ON/Milton Menace (OJHL)) rounded out the scoring with one goal. Kimball Johnson (Dallas, TX/University of St. Thomas (NCAA DI)) and Khristian Acosta (Port Monmouth, NJ/Mercyhurst University (NCAA DI)) dished out two assists, and Griffen Barr (Nanaimo, BC/Vernon Vipers (BCHL)) added one. Ethan Roberts (Cary, NC/University of St. Thomas (NCAA DI)) and Bryan Landsberger (Montreal, Quebec/Nepean Raiders (CCHL)) split the duties between the pipes. Roberts made 12 saves and Landsberger totaled 16. On a night with lots of energy in the crowd, the Pioneers came out attacking, winning the opening faceoff and challenging the Stonehill goalie, Dylan Meilun, early. However, just a minute in, Stonehill intercepted the puck and found the back of the net on their first shot attempt of the night. Despite going down 1-0 early, Utica continued its history of scoring early in the teddy bear toss game, tying the score at one apiece at the 7:58 mark. Freshman Eric Vitale (Toronto, ON/Shreveport Mudbugs (NAHL)) scored the first goal, carving his name into this great holiday tradition with the opening score of the contest. Vitale's score erupted the crowd and thousands of teddy bears onto the ice. The goal came by deflecting a rifling shot from Kimball Johnson (Dallas, TX/University of St. Thomas (NCAA DI)) past Dylan Meilun. Stonehill would proceed to put itself behind the eight ball in the upcoming minutes. A series of penalties gave the Pioneers a 5-on-3 power play in which they would take a 2-1 lead. Khristian Acosta (Port Monmouth, NJ/Mercyhurst University (NCAA DI)) set Brian Scoville (Agawam, MA/Alabama-Huntsville (NCAA DI)) up for a beautiful one-timer goal at the 12:14 mark. In the closing minute of the first frame, Drake Morse (Grand Rapids, MI/Shreveport Mudbugs (NAHL)) would tack on another one to up the Pioneers lead to 3-1. Kimball Johnson (Dallas, TX/University of St. Thomas (NCAA DI)) provided his second assist of the night along with Eric Vitale (Toronto, ON/Shreveport Mudbugs (NAHL)). Morse struck again in the second period, scoring the lone goal of the frame for Utica. Jakob Breault (Acton Vale, QC/Alaska-Fairbanks (NCAA DI)) tallied his second assist of the contest on the score. Aiden Hughes (Mississauga, ON/Milton Menace (OJHL)) would later steal the puck in the neutral zone and draw a penalty on a breakaway chance. He would seize the moment and ignite the crowd, scoring the fifth goal of the night via penalty shot. In the closing minute of the second, Devin Carlstrom sniped a shot past Bryan Landsberger (Montreal, Quebec/Nepean Raiders (CCHL)) bringing the score to 5-2 to stop the Pioneers' string of five unanswered goals. After assisting on two goals earlier on, Jakob Breault (Acton Vale, QC/Alaska-Fairbanks (NCAA DI)) wanted one of his own. The senior faked out the goalie with a hesitation before providing the sixth Utica score of the night on a brilliant shot. Drake Morse (Grand Rapids, MI/Shreveport Mudbugs (NAHL)) later notched another goal to give himself the hat-trick, scoring off a rebound with three minutes remaining in the third, bringing the lead to 7-2.
 
In the Polls: The Utica University men's hockey team held steady at No. 4 in this week's US College Hockey Online Women's Top 15. The poll was released Monday by the national college hockey website. The Pioneers received 225 points this week, up from last week's 209, to remain within the top-five of the rankings. The team also received one first place vote. Utica defeated NCAA Division I Stonehill College, 7-2, in the New York Sash Teddy Bear Toss on Friday. The entire Division III men's poll can be found at https://www.uscho.com/rankings/d-iii-mens-poll/.
 
Where We Stand: The Pioneers will enter their final weekend of the calendar year 6-1-3 overall and 5-0-1 in UCHC action. With 16 league points, Utica sits third in the standings however, the team has played two fewer conference games than Wilkes and Stevenson who are tied for first with 17 points. Taking a look at the PairWise Rankings, the Pioneers are tied for second with Elmira. 
 
Around the Nation: As the fourth ranked team in the nation, Utica has played phenomenal hockey both offensively and defensively. Strong defense typically translates to a high scoring offense and this has been evident for the Pioneers. Utica is currently allowing only 1.82 goals per game, ranking eighth best in the nation. On the other hand, the offense is scoring 3.91 goals per game, which sits 11th best in the nation. These statistics combine to give them a winning margin of 2.09 as well which also places them in the top 10 across the nation. Individually, Jakob Breault (Acton Vale, QC/Alaska-Fairbanks (NCAA DI)) and Khristian Acosta (Port Monmouth, NJ/Mercyhurst University (NCAA DI)) find themselves amongst the NCAA leaders too. Breault is averaging 1.27 points per game thus far, ranking himself 35th across the country in that category. Khristian Acosta (Port Monmouth, NJ/Mercyhurst University (NCAA DI)) finds himself 21st in the NCAA for assists per game with 10 through 11 games. 
 
About Oswego: The Oswego State Lakers are off to a 7-4 start thus far. While the Lakers began the season ranked in the USCHO Top-15, three consecutive losses had dropped them out of the USCHO polls last week. Falling out of the rankings put a real chip on their shoulder as they went out and beat the No. 1 Plattsburgh Cardinals over the weekend, 5-3. In this week's USCHO poll, Oswego garnered 32 points which has them as the top receiving vote-getter outside of the top-15. Last year's leading scorer Shane Bull is back for the Lakers looking strong as ever with 21 points already on the season. Bull leads all SUNYAC players in points this year and will be a key factor in this weekend's matchup. Tyler Flack has really stepped up in his senior campaign, scoring seven goals and adding 10 assists thus far. As a sophomore, Connor Gatto has made a big impact as well, scoring one goal and dishing out eight assists. Cal Schell has retained the starting goalie job as a sophomore, allowing 2.52 goals per game and currently holds a .897 save percentage. Before squaring off with Utica, Oswego will host SUNYAC opponent Cortland in their teddy bear toss game on Friday, December 8. 
 
Series History: This weekend will mark the 28th all-time meeting between the Pioneers and Lakers. Utica holds the edge as of late, posting a 2-0-2 mark against Oswego since January 2018. Both of the team's wins have come over the last pair of meetings as well with a 4-3 at Oswego in January 2020 and a 4-0 win at home in last year's New York Sash Teddy Bear Toss game. 

Up Next: The Pioneers will return from the semester break to host Manhattanville College on January 5 and 6. The teams will meet at the Utica University Nexus Center on January 5 at 7:30 p.m. before heading back next door to the ADK Bank Center at 7 p.m. on January 6. Tickets for both games can be found at https://empirestatetix.evenue.net/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/SEGetEventList?groupCode=UCP&linkID=utica&shopperContext=&caller=&appCode=.