UTICA, NY - The No. 1 Utica University men's hockey team will travel to Glenside, PA this weekend for its final series of the regular season against the Arcadia University Knights. The teams will meet at 7 p.m. on Saturday before playing the regular season finale at 12:15 p.m. on Sunday.
Follow Along: Those unable to attend can watch live through
https://gomacsports.tv/arcadia/ or keep up with live stats at
https://arcadiaknights.com/sidearmstats/mhockey/summary.
Last Time Out: For a fifth consecutive full season, the No. 1 Utica University men's hockey team reached the 20-win mark after its 4-1 win at Alvernia University on Saturday. Each of Utica's four goals came in the third period, the first three of which on power plays.
Dante Zapata (Huntington Beach, CA/Austin Bruins (NAHL)),
Kimball Johnson (Coppell, TX/University of St. Thomas (NCAA DI)) and
Remy Parker (Montclair, NJ/University of Maine (NCAA DI)) were responsible for the power play goals while
Buster Larsson (Malmo, Sweden/Utica Jr. Comets (NCDC)) added one for good measure late in the frame. In goal,
Bryan Landsberger (Montreal, Quebec/Nepean Raiders (CCHL)) made eight saves while earning the win. The Pioneer defense limited the Golden Wolves to their nine shots on goal over the first two periods before denying the hosts a shot attempt in the third. Utica totaled 57 shots on goal throughout the game. Although Utica put 21 shots on goal over the first 20 minutes of play, it would be Alvernia taking the first lead of the afternoon. The Golden Wolves scored at 8:48 on one of its six shots on goal in the period and would hold the lead entering the second period. The Pioneers once again held a convincing shot advantage in the second, 15-3, but were still denied a goal as the team trailed 1-0 going into the third. Utica's offense broke through not even one minute into the final period. Zapata capitalized on a power play at 0:59 with
Jayson Dobay (Weymouth, MA/Youngstown Phantoms (USHL)) on the assist. On the power play once again nearing 11 minutes to play, Johnson scored what would be the game-winning goal at 8:50 with assists going to
Remy Parker (Montclair, NJ/University of Maine (NCAA DI)) and
Lucas Herrmann (Elma, NY/University of New Hampshire (NCAA DI)). Still up 2-1 with under a minute to play, Parker netted the third power play goal of the afternoon for the team, this one unassisted, to essentially put the game out of reach. Larsson scored with six seconds to play for the finishing touches as the Pioneers finished off the sweep of Alvernia.
Come Join Us: Utica men's hockey playoff tickets for the first and second round are officially on sale. For more information regarding playoff ticket sales, as well as 2023-24 season ticket renwal, visit
https://uticapioneers.com/news/2023/2/10/mens-ice-hockey-no-1-mens-hockey-playoff-tickets-2023-24-season-ticket-renewal-to-open-on-february-14.aspx.
In the Polls: The Utica University men's hockey team remains the No.1 team in the country in this week's US College Hockey Online Men's Top 15. The poll was released Monday by the national college hockey website. The No.1 Pioneers received 12 out of 20 first place votes and accumulated 290 points this week to remain at the No.1 spot. Utica recorded another 20-win season after picking up their 13th win in a row after picking up a pair of wins at Alvernia University this past weekend. The Pioneers won both games against the Wolves by a combined score of 10-1 to improve to 20-2-1 overall and 18-0-0 in UCHC play. The full Division III men's hockey rankings can be found at
https://www.uscho.com/rankings/d-iii-mens-poll/.
What's at Stake: Having already clinched the UCHC regular season title and home ice throughout the conference playoffs, the only question remaining is who will the Pioneers host in the quarterfinals. There are three teams that can possibly earn the eighth seed in the tournament; Alvernia, Arcadia and King's. Alvernia would guarantee a playoff berth with at least four points this weekend or if King's does not get to 20 points. Arcadia holds the tiebreaker on Alvernia (6-0). Alvernia would hold the tiebreaker on King's (3-3, Both teams earned zero points vs. Utica and Stevenson. Alvernia earned three points vs. Nazareth, King's zero. If Chatham leaps Nazareth, Alvernia recorded three vs. Chatham, King's zero). They can finish as high as seventh and as low as ninth. Arcadia would earn a postseason berth by getting to at least 22 points. Arcadia holds the tiebreaker on Alvernia (6-0). Arcadia also holds the tiebreaker on King's (4-2). Arcadia would be eliminated if passed in points by both Alvernia and King's. They can finish as high as seventh and as low as ninth. King's will need to earn at least four more points than either or both Alvernia and King's this weekend to earn a postseason berth. King's loses head to head tiebreakers on both Arcadia and Alvernia. They can finish as high as seventh and as low as ninth.
First Time Around: Lucas Herrmann (Elma, NY/University of New Hampshire (NCAA DI)) was named the UCHC Co-Player of the Week, as announced by the league on Monday. It was his first UCHC weekly honor of the season. Herrmann was on an onslaught in the 2-0 weekend for Utica totaling four points, which included his first hat trick of his career as a Pioneer. Herrmann also had an assist and went 27 of 35 on faceoffs. On Friday, Herrmann's first goal came in the 2nd period of the first game against Alvernia with 5:11 left to go. After the first goal, Herrmann didn't let Alvernia get a chance to recover, scoring his second goal in just three minutes and eleven seconds after his first. His third and final goal came late in the third period to put the finishing touches on a 6-0 victory over Alvernia. This powerful performance from Herrmann continued the Pioneers' success, who have not lost a game since October 29, 2022.
About Arcadia: The Knights find themselves 6-14-3 overall and enter the weekend holding the eighth and final UCHC playoff spot with a 5-10-3 conference mark. The team's offense ranks in the middle of the pack in the UCHC with a total of 68 goals scored this season however, its defense has lacked throughout the year as the team's 98 goals allowed are the 10th most in the league. Arcadia has struggled this season on the penalty kill with the worst penalty-killing percentage in the UCHC (.643) while averaging the second most penalties per game (6.35) and nearly the most time spent in the box per game (15:46). Five Knights have at least five goals this season with James Spaargaren leading the way with seven on a .125 shot percentage. In goal, Fletcher Bolda has started a team-high 12 games and has posted a 3-5-2 record with 422 saves and 4.37 goals allowed per game.
The Series: This weekend will be the third and fourth all-time games between Utica and Arcadia. The Pioneers took both games last season by a combined score of 19-1, winning 12-1 at home on November 5, 2021 and then 7-0 at Arcadia on January 22, 2022.
Up Next: The Pioneers will host the UCHC Quarterfinals on Wednesday, February 22. Time and opponent are TBD.
