GLENSIDE, PA - The No. 1 Utica University men's hockey team finished off a perfect conference record with a 7-1 win over the Arcadia University Knights in the regular season finale on Sunday.
The win pushes the Pioneers' winning streak to 15 games as well as their unbeaten streak to 23 straight.
Mic Curran (Arlington, MA/Curry College (CCC)) and
Remy Parker (Montclair, NJ/University of Maine (NCAA DI)) turned in two goal performances each while Parker also added an assist for a three point day.
Kimball Johnson (Coppell, TX/University of St. Thomas (NCAA DI)) totaled three points as well with one goal and a pair of assists.
Matt Wood (Garnet Valley, PA/Richmond Generals (USPHL)) and
Jakob Breault (Acton Vale, QC/Alaska-Fairbanks (NCAA DI)) also scored in the win.
The Pioneers put 61 shots on goal to the Knight's 18 while also taking 43 of 65 faceoffs. Despite nine penalties for a total of 26 minutes in the box, the Utica defense and goalkeeper
Bryan Landsberger (Montreal, Quebec/Nepean Raiders (CCHL)) kept Arcadia off the board and limited the hosts to just four shots in man-down situations. Landsberger finished the game with 17 saves.
Coincidentally, Utica's first goal of the game came short-handed. Following a takeaway at 9:10 in the first,
Remy Parker (Montclair, NJ/University of Maine (NCAA DI)) received a beautiful pass from
Kimball Johnson (Coppell, TX/University of St. Thomas (NCAA DI)) to set up Parker's 20th goal of the season. Four minutes later, however, Arcadia responded with a goal to even the score at 1-1.
Upon entering the second with the score 1-1, the Pioneers took over. Parker scored his second of the game on a power play at 4:59 with
Lucas Herrmann (Elma, NY/University of New Hampshire (NCAA DI)) and
Jayson Dobay (Weymouth, MA/Youngstown Phantoms (USHL)) assisting. Later in the period, Wood scored an unassisted short-handed goal at 12:44 to make it a 3-1 game. A couple minutes later, Curran scored his first of the game and was quickly followed by Breault, who scored the team's fifth goal just 30 seconds later.
Utica added two more goals in the third, one by Johnson just 22 seconds into the period and the last by Curran at 18:42 as the Pioneers went on to win its program-best 20th conference win of the year.
No. 1 Utica (22-2-1, 20-0-0 UCHC) and Arcadia will meet once again on Wednesday in the UCHC Tournament Quarterfinals. Puck drop from the Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium is set for 7 p.m.