UTICA, NY - The No. 13 Utica University women's hockey team prepares for the Utica University Kickoff Tournament on Friday, Nov. 1 and Saturday, Nov. 2. Utica plays Suffolk University on Friday at 4 p.m. and the winner plays either Wilkes University or No. 5 Elmira University on Saturday at either 1 p.m. or 4 p.m. All games will be played at the Utica University Nexus Center.
 
Follow Along: All games will be live on the Empire 8 Network. Live stats will be available for all games here.
 
Last Time Out: The No. 13 ranked Pioneer Women's Ice Hockey team saw their first game action on Friday, October 25 against the London Devilettes, a Juniors team out of London, Ontario, Canada. In the final frame, the Pioneers came alive, scoring three goals including two within the last 7 minutes of regulation to come away with a clutch 3-2 victory in their pseudo season-opener. With the Pioneers staring down a 2-goal gap, Graduate player Madison Novotny (Wesley Chapel, FL/Northwood School) received a pass near the blue line from Sophomore Sydney Mintz (Kelowna, BC/Okanagan Hockey Academy) early on in the third period. Novotny then proceeded to fire a wrister from the back of the Pioneers' attacking zone, just getting the puck past the Devilettes goaltender to bring the Pioneers back to within one goal. After cutting the deficit to 2-1, Utica looked to find an equalizer and began applying massive amounts of pressure with the idea of forcing a late London error. With time ticking down and seven minutes remaining in the matchup, the Pioneers found their leveling score, as Kaci Ryder (Shrewsbury, MA/Shrewsburg (Lady Flames)) corralled a rebound off of a hard slapshot from newcomer Ally Nolan (Westford, MA/Chatham University (NCAA DIII)), slipping the puck past the recovering London cageminder to knot the score at two apiece. At this point, the Pioneers' momentum was evident, and they proved it by capitalizing just a few short minutes later. New Utica player Ally Nolan (Westford, MA/Chatham University (NCAA DIII)) received the puck near the Pioneer goal from goalie Alex Venning (Courtice, ON/Ottawa Jr. 67s) and immediately hit the jets, going coast-to-coast and weaving through the Devilettes defense before slotting the puck in the upper left part of the goal, past the outstretched glove of the Devilettes goaltender to give Utica a shocking 3-2 lead. Down 2-0 only 13 minutes before, the Pioneers salted away the clock for a 3-2 exhibition victory, gaining some great traction heading into their kickoff tournament that will take place next weekend.
 
From The Past: The Pioneers defeated Adrian College 2-1(OT) last season in the 2023 Utica Kickoff Tournament. Carolyn Whitney (Raleigh, NC/Millbrook School) lifted Utica over the Bulldogs to secure a huge ranked win en route to eight consecutive wins.
 
About Suffolk: In 2023-24, the Rams went 8-15-2 overall and 7-9-2 in the Greater New England Athletic Conference. The team was led by Jenna Caballero; she returns after notching 14 points off six goals and eight assists. She finished the season scoring two goals and recording one helper in three games. She also was tied with two other players on the team with two power-play goals. Three players collected 12 points each: Liliana Moose, Kellie Popkin and Elise Wainwright registered. Suffolk is without Wainwright, who led the team with 11 assists while recording seven in five games. Lily O'Neil started 19 games in goal last season, sporting a .929 save percentage and a 2.25 goals-against average. Last season was the first time Suffolk and Utica met; Utica went on to win 6-2 behind Stefanini's three goals and one assist.
 
About Elmira: The Elmira Soaring Eagles are coming off an unforgettable season where they reached the NCAA Division III National Championship against the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and fell 4-1. The team had a daunting four games leading up to the championship against Cortland, Middlebury and Amherst before facing Wisconsin-River Falls. Elmira went 23-8-1 overall and 14-3-1 in the New England Hockey Conference. The team returns its top point producer, Erika Goleniak, who totaled 14 goals and 19 assists. She started last season with four goals and one assist in three games. Anna Lugge returns after scoring 10 goals and adding 14 assists. Louise-Leonie Kuehberger returns in goal for the Soaring Eagles after she registered a .94 goals against average and a .941 save percentage. Her goals-against average was fifth nationally and Elmira's second goaltender, Chloe Beaubien, had the best goals-against average nationally in 11 games (.77).
 
About Wilkes: The Colonels ended last season 18-7-2 overall and 12-6-2 in UCHC play. This is the first season Wilkes is not a member of the UCHC; the team is now a part of the MAC. Haylee Bouchard returns in 2024 after collecting 37 points on 18 goals and 19 assists. Jordan Ferry was second with 12 goals and 11 assists and a team-leading 119 shots. Aubrey Milne is the team's primary goaltender, sporting a 14-5-2 record and a .946 save percentage. In the first game against Utica last season, Milne held Utica to zero goals and 54 saves.
 
Up Next: Utica heads to Pittsburgh, PA, on Friday, November 8, and Saturday, November 9, for a two-game set against Chatham University.