UTICA, NY - One day after a heated contest that involved 10 penalties and seven rounds of penalty shootout action, Utica and Geneseo met once again, this time in a contest that involved over 3,000 fans each armed with a teddy bear ready for launching at the time of the first Pioneer score. On Saturday night at the Adirondack Bank Center, the #3 ranked Pioneers and #4 ranked Knights did battle for the second straight day, this time during the 20th annual New York Sash Teddy Bear Toss. Drake Morse (Grand Rapids, MI/Shreveport Mudbugs (NAHL)) cemented his status in teddy toss history early on in the matchup, becoming this season's bear barrage bringer as he scored the game's opening goal just seven minutes in. Geneseo would weather the early Pioneer push though, recording back-to-back goals to end the first period, and continuing to build upon their lead in the following frames as they came away with a 5-2 win.
 
Morse, along with Pioneer Freshman Justin Rapp (St. Louis, MO/Johnstown Tomahawks (NAHL)) scored the home team's two goals on the night, with Rapp getting just his second goal as a member of the program.
 
Ben Schultheis (Mount Juliet, TN/Ferris State University (NCAA DI)) and Preston Brighton (Brighton, MI/Amarillo Wranglers (NAHL)) earned assists on the game's opening score, and the second score was helped on by Anthony Cafarelli (Middleton, MA/Oklahoma Warriors (NAHL)) and Eric Vitale (Toronto, ON/Shreveport Mudbugs (NAHL)), last season's toss catalyst.
 
Friday's faceoff featured a gritty affair that featured a plethora of penalties, however, Saturday's showdown would be completely opposite, with neither penalty box housing any players for the entire duration of the matchup.
 
Despite the final score tilting Geneseo's way, it was the Pioneers who obtained the vast majority of opportunities in the game, outshooting the Knights 52-23 on the night.
 
Some otherworldly goalkeeping by Geneseo's netminder, coupled with a few high-level and efficient scores from the Knights proved to be the difference in tonight's teddy toss tussle.
 
Utica also had a major share of the faceoff wins, taking 48 of the 70 opportunities for a 69% faceoff win rate.
 
One would assume that the Knight's were overwhelmingly the better team during the proceedings, however the action was even for most of the game and featured two of New York's premier programs at the peak of their power.
 
The Pioneers fell to 9-2-1 with the loss, also dropping to 6-1-1 in the UCHC. They'll be off until 2025, returning early in January to take on SUNYAC side Oswego, the only team from the Thanksgiving Showcase that the Pioneers didn't play. That game will be on January 10th at the Adirondack Bank Center, and will mark the start of this season's second half.
 
 
Game Summary: The Pioneers were on the hunt early, with all five of the starting skaters for Utica looking for the hallowed Teddy Bear Toss opening goal.
 
The hosts, clad in their special edition teddy bear jerseys, had a couple solid chances early. Their normal onslaught of blue line shots began early on, with Aydin Parekh (Nobleton, ON/Georgetown Raiders (OJHL)) putting in a solid attempt from the blue line to open the proceedings. A few moments later, Jakob Breault (Acton Vale, QC/Alaska-Fairbanks (NCAA DI)) was inches away from becoming a Utica legend, but saw his point blank attempt get denied by the Knights netminder.
 
The home side held possession over the entire first seven minutes of the game, launching eight shots as opposed to just one by the opposition. With thousands of fans jumping at the opportunity to launch a shower of stuffed animals, the Pioneers only upped their offensive pressure.
 
With just seven minutes gone in the matchup, the fluffy flurry began.
 
Schultheis found Brighton up the right side of the boards, with the Sophomore driving up the ice before sending a pass back across goal. Brighton's pass was found on the back post, with Morse etching his name into Pioneer lore as he sent it into the net and began an avalanche of plushy projectiles.
 
Morse's teddy bear tally gave the Pioneers an early 1-0 lead. Play would restart after an eventful break full of interviews and teddy bear pickup. 
 
Possession began to slowly level out after the nearly ten minute teddy bear break. Geneseo began to find some good angles as the first period wound down.
 
The Knights finally restored their momentum with just under four minutes remaining in the opening frame of the contest, finding an answer to the Pioneers opening teddy bear goal. 40 seconds after their opening score, Geneseo had another puck find net as they took a sudden 2-1 advantage over the Pioneers.
 
The rest of the first period clock expired with minimal fireworks as the Knights held their 2-1 advantage into the second period.
 
The middle frame began with a strong starting volley by the Pioneers. Johnny Mulera (Rockville, MD/Salve Regina University (NCAA DIII)) had two go's, neither of which drew net. Morse nearly missed out on doubling his score tally, as his follow up attempt from the blue line got by the Knight goalkeeper but slowly slid just outside the near post.
 
A pair of Freshman got involved on the next Pioneer push, with Cafarelli sending one in and Rapp cleaning up his fellow rookie's misplaced shot to level the game at two. Rapp found the puck drifting away from the Knights goal and managed to pull it back into the play, swinging it around the post and finding the equalizer with about 15 minutes left in the second period.
 
Geneseo continued to have a short memory, as the Knights punched back about two minutes later, finding an open forward in the slot who managed to wrestle back the lead once again at 3-2.
 
Despite trailing 3-2, the Pioneers outshot Geneseo by a 30-15 margin at the midway mark of the matchup.
 
Towards the back end of the second period, the Pioneers began to get the crowd involved, as a run of four-straight great chances from the home side drew some good reactions from the Pioneer faithful. Utica continued to push forward in search of a tying score, unsettling the Knights goalkeeper with a couple good opportunities just outside the crease.
 
With just over four minutes remaining in the game, the Knights found a good counterattack due to the Pioneers' increased pressure in front of net, going up 4-2 off the breakaway goal.
 
The score remained 4-2 headed to the third period of play.
 
Utica, who had outshot the Knights 37-16 through the first two periods, looked to cause a stir within the Adirondack Bank Center and bring back the energy that was present at the onset of the match.
 
Both teams battled back and forth over the first 10 minutes of the final period. With 13 minutes remaining in the contest, Geneseo stole a puck deep in the Pioneers' defensive zone, driving in and scoring a high-level goal despite the best efforts of last night's hero Bryan Landsberger (Montreal, Quebec/Nepean Raiders (CCHL)) in net. The Knights went ahead 5-2 in the game, and sent the Pioneers to defcon 5, needing a goal immediately to keep their chances of notching a signature moment alive.
 
Utica searched vehemently for an alley to creep back into the matchup, finding no big chances in front of net as the clock drained down on the 2024 portion of their 24-25 campaign.
 
With four minutes left, and their backs up against the wall, Landsberger exited the net and gave way for an extra Pioneer attacker. During the pseudo-power play, Utica put massive pressure on the Knights defense, nearly breaking through multiple times but seeing their slew of shots go just wide.
 
Geneseo never found an empty net score, however, the Pioneers were also unable to draw net over the remaining time in the third period. In the end, Geneseo successfully weathered the Pioneers' early surge and came away with a 5-2 win.