UTICA, NY - The No. 7 Utica University women's hockey team will make the short trip to Clinton, NY on Saturday for a top-10 clash with the No. 8 Hamilton College Continentals. Puck drop from Russell Sage Rink is set for 3 p.m.
 
Follow Along: Hamilton will provide live video through https://www.nsnsports.net/colleges/hamilton/ and live stats at https://athletics.hamilton.edu/sidearmstats/whockey/summary. 
 
Last Time Out: The then-No. 9 Utica University women's hockey team shutout the visiting Neumann University Knights 11-0 from the Utica University Nexus Center last Saturday. By picking up the win, Angela Hawthorne (Santa Clara, CA/Meijer) broke the program's career win record with her 41st. She made four saves in her 20 minutes of play. The other 40 minutes belonged to Maddie Esposito (Ashburn, VA/Boston Shamrocks) who kept the Knights off the board while notching 10 saves. A grand total of 17 different Pioneers recorded a point in the win, none more than Hailey Modlin (Phoenix, AZ/Boston Shamrocks), who had two goals and two assists, and Nicole Flak (Middleton, MA/Boston Shamrocks), who totaled one goal and three assists. Carolyn Whitney (Raleigh, NC/Milbrook School) matched Flak with a team high three helpers while Maggie Rylott (Cobourg, Ontario/West Northumberland) and Erica Sheaffer (New Hartford, NY/Wilkes University) shared the team lead of two goals with Modlin. Madison Novotny (Wesley Chapel, FL/Northwood School), Molly Pedone (Trinity, FL/Shattuck-St. Mary's), Emma Corbett (Rochester, NY/Adrian College (NCAA DIII)) and Tess Barrett (Tewksbury, MA/St. Mark's) also found the back of the net for Utica. Corbett's goal served as her first with the Pioneers. Novotny and Kaci Ryder (Shrewsbury, MA/WC Swans) each had two assists while Sheaffer, Pedone, Corbett, Abby Lillis (West Seneca, NY/Buffalo Bisons), Erica Sloan (Potsdam, NY/St. Lawrence Steel), Ava Suda (Cheektowaga, NY/Buffalo Bisons), Cortney Staniszewski (Buffalo, NY/Niagara Jr. Purple Eagles), Hannah Keating (North Andover, MA/HPNA), Alexa Carlon (Lancaster, NY/Niagara Jr. Purple Eagles) and Carly Stefanini (Framingham, MA/Brooks School) all had one. As a unit, the Pioneers outshot the Knights 66-14 and controlled faceoff battles 47-16. Utica replicated its five-goal first period on Friday with another one on Saturday. Pedone got the ball rolling 3:03 into the frame before Novotny pushed the score to 2-0 just over a minute later. Later at 12:53, Rylott notched her fourth of the season while Flak and Barrett scored less than 50 seconds apart at 17:02 and 17:46 to go into intermission up 5-0. Rylott opened the scoring in the second period with her second tally of the game at 5:21. Sheaffer recorded her goal at 8:14 while Corbett celebrated her first as a Pioneer just before the end of the period at 19:19. The finishing touches were put on in the third period by Modlin not once, but twice, with goals at 5:33 and 10:11 while Sheaffer notched her second of the contest at 16:51 as the Pioneers completed the season sweep of Neumann. 
 
In the Polls: The Utica University women's hockey team moved up two spots to No. 7 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 165 points this week, 30 more than last week, to inch closer to top-five territory. This past weekend the team handled visiting Neumann University with 10-0 and 11-0 wins in UCHC action. The entire Division III women's poll can be found at https://www.uscho.com/rankings/d-iii-womens-poll/. 
 
Shining Seniors: In the 11-0 blowout victory on senior day, it was only fitting that those honored made a huge impact. Hailey Modlin (Phoenix, AZ/Boston Shamrocks) continued to display her brilliance on Saturday, scoring two goals and adding two assists. Modlin totaled three goals and three assists on the weekend, upping her season total to 21 points. The senior has a firm lead amongst the UCHC point leaders with six more points than anyone else. Nicole Flak (Middleton, MA/Boston Shamrocks) notched a career high four points in the victory as well, scoring her first goal of the season along with three assists. Madison Novotny (Wesley Chapel, FL/Northwood School) also left her mark on senior day, scoring a goal and adding two assists. 
 
Historic Weekend: Over the weekend, Angela Hawthorne (Santa Clara, CA/Meijer) set the program wins record with her 41st. The senior had a relatively easy weekend only needing to make nine saves across 80 minutes of play. She has been excellent once again this season with a .949 save percentage, ranking third best in the conference. 
 
Faceoff Dominance: Erica Sheaffer (New Hartford, NY/Wilkes University) was stellar while taking faceoffs this weekend, winning a team high 20 out of 27. In the four games she has been active, the graduate student has made a huge impact, tallying four goals and two assists. Sheaffer's strong play as of late figures to keep her a part of the rotation where she will look to maintain her status as an impactful player down the stretch. 
 
Goal Scoring Machine: The Utica offense is playing on a ridiculously high level thus far. After scoring a mind-blowing 21 goals over the weekend, the team upped their season total to 52 which firmly leads the conference. The Pioneers are scoring a massive 4.73 goals per game, leading the conference by a wide margin as well. This electric offense has helped Utica maintain an average margin of victory of 3.7. With a plethora of goal scorers on this team, Utica figures to compete with anyone in the latter half of the year. 
 
About Hamilton: The No. 8 Hamilton Continentals are off to a 4-2-1 start early this season after defeating No. 14 Nazareth in overtime on Tuesday, 2-1. After opening up the season with a pair of losses to No. 2 Amherst, Hamilton has regrouped, winning three in a row before tying against Trinity most recently. The Continentals have a new identity this year after graduating their three top point scorers from last season. Three seniors have taken the reins thus far and stepped into larger roles than in years past. Sami Quackenbush currently leads the team in points as she has dished out seven assists thus far. Claire McGennis leads Hamilton with four goals which already match her season total from last season. Abby Smith has tallied six points with three goals and three assists. Teagan Brown has stepped in as the starting goalie as a freshman. She is off to a modest start with a .919 save percentage and a 2-2-1 record. Before squaring off against Utica on Saturday, Hamilton will face the reigning UCHC champion, Nazareth on Tuesday, December 5. 
 
Series History: Utica and Hamilton have faced off 26 times in the past. The Pioneers are leading the series with a record of 12-9-5 all-time. In their most recent matchup, the teams tied 2-2 in what was an Angela Hawthorne (Santa Clara, CA/Meijer) masterclass performance. Hawthorne made a career high 52 saves in the game, willing the Pioneers to a tie. For Utica, Hailey Modlin (Phoenix, AZ/Boston Shamrocks) and Maggie Rylott (Cobourg, Ontario/West Northumberland) scored a goal apiece. Cortney Staniszewski (Buffalo, NY/Niagara Jr. Purple Eagles) was responsible for facilitating each goal. 

Up Next: The Pioneers will return from break and travel to take on Alvernia University on January 5 at 7 p.m. and January 6 at 3 p.m.