UTICA, NY - The No. 3 Utica University Men's Hockey team will begin their 2024-2025 UCHC title defense this weekend when they face the Nazareth Golden Flyers in some early-season conference action on Friday and Saturday. Friday, the Pioneers will travel to Rochester and face Nazareth at the Tim Horton's Iceplex at 7:00 PM. Saturday, Utica will welcome the Golden Flyers to The Bank as the two teams complete the tail-end of a two-day home-and-home series, the new normal for conference play in the UCHC. Saturday's matchup will also begin at 7:00 PM.
 
How to Watch: You can catch this weekend's two-game slate by heading to the "Watch" tab in the Men's Ice Hockey schedule section of our athletics website. You can also follow the links below to view each game.
(Friday) Nazareth Men's Ice Hockey Stream: https://www.empire8network.com/nazareth/?B=1418931
(Saturday) Utica Men's Ice Hockey Stream: https://www.empire8network.com/utica/
 
Keep Up With Live Stats: You can follow along with live statistics for the games by heading to the "Live Stats" tab under the matchups in the Men's Ice Hockey schedule section of our athletics website. You can also follow the links below to view live statistics for both matchups.
(Friday) Nazareth Men's Ice Hockey Live Statistics: https://nazathletics.com/sidearmstats/mhockey/summary
(Saturday) Utica Men's Ice Hockey Live Statistics: https://uticapioneers.com/sidearmstats/mhockey/summary
 
Weekend Recap: The Pioneers traveled to Michigan last weekend to open their 2024-2025 campaign with a two-game set against the #3 ranked Adrian Bulldogs. Utica won a hard-fought season-opening showdown in game one, scoring two late goals including a game-winner with 30 seconds left to get the visitors off to a 1-0-0 start in the new season. Less than 24 hours later, the two top-4 ranked teams met again at the Arrington Ice Arena, with the Bulldogs coming out on top after a high-powered and high-profile slugfest that resulted in six goals through the first two periods of play. Adrian took the second game by a score of 5-3 after a fortunate bounce provided the Bulldogs with the decisive third period score. Both matchups had the feel of a late-season NCAA Tournament tilt despite it being the first two days of the 2024-2025 season for each squad. After the snow settled, both teams saw a bump in the USCHO national rankings due to the highly-contested nature of the matchup, with Adrian moving up one spot to number two and Utica stepping up into a tie for third with Trinity (CT) who was idle during the season's opening slate.  
 
Murphy Madness: Shane Murphy (Oriskany, NY/Danbury Hat Tricks (NAHL)) was selected as the UCHC's first Player of the Week for the 2024-2025 season on Monday after the standout Senior willed the Pioneers to a game one win over Adrian in Friday's season-opener. Adrian and Utica entered the third period of Friday's contest in a 1-1 deadlock after dueling goals by both teams during the final three minutes of the second period. The Bulldogs struck first in the final period, taking a 2-1 lead less than a minute into the last 20 of regulation. Down one and facing an Adrian power play, the Pioneers needed a momentum-shifting moment to begin a furious comeback in enemy territory. Matt Wood (Garnet Valley, PA/Richmond Generals (USPHL)) drove behind the net, dragging two Bulldog defenders along with the Adrian goaltender out of position. Murphy found the perfect gap, placing himself in the best spot possible to receive a centering pass from Wood, which he put away for the shorthanded equalizer. The two teams remained stagnant at one goal apiece over the rest of the third period, maintaining the 1-1 tie until the final minute of regulation. With just over 30 ticks left on the clock, Johnny Mulera (Rockville, MD/Salve Regina University (NCAA DIII)) drove the puck down the right side of the Bulldog defensive zone, looking for an opportunity to secure a late dagger. Murphy began the attack alongside the Salve Regina transfer, but managed to slip away from his defender, causing confusion and forcing Adrian to double-cover his teammate while he sat free at the back post. Mulera found a beautiful through-pass, splitting the Bulldog defensive duo and allowing Murphy to send home the game-winning goal past the outstretched pad of the Adrian keeper, giving the Pioneers a 3-2 lead which they would hold over the next 30 seconds to advance to 1-0-0. Murphy's clutch combos led him to being selected as the UCHC Player of the Week for the week of November 4th.
 
Pioneer Primer: Mulera ended last weekend as the Pioneers' leading point-getter, tallying three points via two goals and one assist in the two matchups against Adrian. Mulera had an excellent debut weekend for the Pioneers after transferring in from Salve Regina over the summer, with the Utica newcomer scoring in each game and also assisting the game-winner in the first matchup. Chris Carroll (Islip, NY/New Jersey Titans (NAHL)) and Ben Schultheis (Mount Juliet, TN/Ferris State University (NCAA DI)) scored the other two goals for the Pioneers during last weekend's action, with Carroll finding his on a point-blank wrap around shot and Schultheis scoring off a long-range wrister near the blue line. Both goals were scored in game two of the series.
 
Carroll also secured an assist on the weekend, joining Preston Brighton (Brighton, MI/Amarillo Wranglers (NAHL)), Drake Morse (Grand Rapids, MI/Shreveport Mudbugs (NAHL)), and Brian Scoville (Agawam, MA/Alabama-Huntsville (NCAA DI)) as the players who each gathered an assist during the two season-opening matchups.
 
Aydin Parekh (Nobleton, ON/Georgetown Raiders (OJHL)) and Matt Wood (Garnet Valley, PA/Richmond Generals (USPHL)) each had two helpers on the weekend, ending the Michigan trip with two points apiece.
 
Ethan Roberts (Cary, NC/University of St. Thomas (NCAA DI)) spent nearly 90 minutes guarding the net this weekend, allowing only three goals and recording 36 saves at a 92% rate. He also picked up a win and a loss in the two contests.
 
In the Polls: The Pioneers solid results during their trip to Michigan, along with the high-profile nature of the matchup, slightly elevated the Pioneers' ranking in the newest USCHO poll, seeing the Orange and Blue jump up one spot, placing the New York powerhouse into a tie with a Trinity (CT) team that sat idle in the first week of the new season after finishing as the National Runners-Up in last year's NCAA DIII Hockey Tournament. Utica remained the #4 team in the DIII Hockey News poll, with the entire top five of the rankings staying unchanged after the first weekend.
 
New conference foe Geneseo bumped up to #6 in the USCHO rankings, entering themselves into a tie of their own with fellow #6 ranked Curry. The Knights also moved up one spot in the DIII Hockey News poll, moving from #8 to #7. Utica and Geneseo will meet four times over the course of the regular season, with their first battles coming on December 6th in Geneseo and December 7th in Utica for this season's New York Sash Teddy Bear Toss.
 
The teams in this year's Delta by Marriott Utica Thanksgiving Showcase also experienced some action in the polls this week, with the Pioneers' first round opponent University of New England breaking into the USCHO rankings for the first time in 24-25, entering the poll at #13 after a 5-0 defeat of Plymouth State on Friday. On the other side of the mid-season tournament, former UCHC opponent Stevenson ascended to the #12 spot in the USCHO poll after a weekend sweep of SUNY Canton by scores of 4-3 and 5-2 respectively. SUNY Oswego continued to receive votes after a 5-2 loss to #1 ranked Hobart and a 0-0 tie against then #10 Elmira this past weekend, meaning all four teams in the mid-season showcase tournament are receiving national recognition in the polls.
 
About Nazareth University: UCHC Conference opponent Nazareth University began the 24-25 season with a big win over the then #10 ranked Elmira Soaring Eagles in Elmira. The Golden Flyers' upset victory knocked Elmira out of the USCHO poll completely and gave the Rochester-based team a big resume builder as the prepare to face another ranked opponent in the now-#3 Pioneers. The huge start is already a big momentum-builder for a Golden Flyers team who started the 23-24 season with five-straight losses, eventually finishing with a 6-18-2 record and a 3-0 UCHC Quarterfinal loss to Utica.
 
Nazareth's two scores against Elmira were registered by Senior Ethan Louisos and Freshman Andrew Miller, perhaps showing an interesting dynamic of upperclassmen experience and new talent. The Golden Flyers class makeup is very balanced, with the team having six Freshmen, seven Sophomores, five Juniors, and ten Seniors as well as a single Graduate Student in Dylan Wiemer. Wiemer is the main net-minder for the Golden Flyers and played all 60 minutes during the game against Elmira, tallying 21 saves and only a single goal allowed in the win. Wiemer, a Rochester native, transferred in from SUNY Brockport this summer, a team that the Golden Flyers will see quite often now with the former SUNYAC squad now in the UCHC.
 
The Series - Nazareth University: The Pioneers have met the Golden Flyers 34 times, winning 26 of the meetings, losing five, and drawing three times. Utica is currently in the midst of a solid winning streak against Nazareth and has scored an average of 4.2 goals per meeting when seeing the Golden Flyers on the ice.
 
After Nazareth: Utica Men's Hockey will continue their early-season UCHC action next weekend with a two-game set against new conference opponent SUNY Brockport. The Golden Eagles will head to The Bank on Friday before the Pioneers travel to Wegmans Arena on Saturday. Friday's game will be at 7:00 PM while Saturday's contest will begin at 5:00.
 
Tune in this weekend as the Pioneers continue their 2024-2025 campaign against Nazareth!