UTICA, NY - The No. 3 Utica University men's hockey team readies for its final road trip of the season as the team travels to Wilkes-Barre, PA for a pair of games at King's College. The Pioneers and Monarchs will meet at 7 p.m. on Friday night before wrapping up the series at 2 p.m. on Saturday. 
 
Follow Along: King's will provide live video through https://gomacsports.tv/kingscollege/ and live stats via https://kingscollegeathletics.com/sidearmstats/mhockey/summary for both games this weekend. 
 
Last Time Out: The then-No. 5 Utica University men's hockey team capped off its series sweep of the Nazareth University Golden Flyers with a 4-2 win on the road. Shane Murphy (Oriskany, NY/Danbury Hat Tricks (NAHL)) carried his momentum from Friday night's hat-trick into Saturday with a three point performance off the back of two assists and one goal. Brian Scoville (Agawam, MA/Alabama-Huntsville (NCAA DI)), Michael Herrera (Syracuse, NY/Utica Comets (NCDC)) and Kimball Johnson (Dallas, TX/University of St. Thomas (NCAA DI)) combined for Utica's other three goals. Aside from Murphy, Alexander Gullichsen (Turku, Finland/Aberdeen Wings (NAHL)) and Jakob Breault (Acton Vale, QC/Alaska-Fairbanks (NCAA DI)) each had one assist as well. In goal, Ethan Roberts (Cary, NC/University of St. Thomas (NCAA DI)) made 21 saves with two goals allowed en route to his ninth win of the season. For the Golden Flyers, Liam Beaudoin notched both of their goals while Matt Sayles made 33 saves with four goals allowed. The Pioneers outshot Nazareth 37-23 while also controlling the faceoff battle, 33-28. Both sides also had just one power play apiece in the game, both of which came in the second. Most of Utica's damage in the game was done within the first 20 minutes of play.  At 7:25, Scoville put the team ahead with his eighth goal of the season off a Breault assist. Later at 13:52, Herrera found the back of the net off Murphy and Gullichsen assists to make it a 2-0 game. Just a few minutes later, Johnson notched his fourth goal of the season with help from Murphy to send the Pioneers into the first intermission ahead 3-0. Despite 17 shots in the second period, Utica couldn't get one past Sayles between the pipes while the Pioneer defense limited the Golden Flyers to under 10 looks on goal in the frame. With Utica still up 3-0, the third period began with Nazareth on the advantage as Preston Brighton (Castle Rock, CO/Amarillo Wranglers (NAHL)) was called for holding at 18:56 in the second. Under a minute into the third with the Nazareth power play winding down, Murphy found himself in open space and fired it past Sayles for the shorthanded tally, making it a 4-0 game. Nazareth did what it could throughout the final half of the third to chip away as Beaudoin scored at 9:01 and 16:03 however, the Golden Flyers would miss on their final three shots to put an end to the contest. 
 
In the Polls: The Pioneers bumped up to No. 3 in this week's US College Hockey Online Men's Top 15. The poll was released Monday by the national college hockey website. Utica received 250 points this week, up from the 205 points last week, to move up two spots from their previous No. 5 ranking. Utica swept its home-and-home series with the Nazareth University Golden Flyers this past weekend with a 7-0 home win on Friday night and a 4-2 road win on Saturday afternoon. The entire Division III men's poll can be found at https://www.uscho.com/rankings/d-iii-mens-poll/. 
 
Oriskany's Own: In a weekend sweep of the Nazareth Golden Flyers, Murphy paced the Pioneers' attack in both games as the junior accumulated seven points on four goals and three assists to earn UCHC Co-Player of the Weeks honors. In Friday's 7-0 win, Murphy notched his first career hat-trick as well as his third career multi-goal game. His three goals came over just six shots on goal. He also went on to assist on another Utica goal in the third period. In Saturday's road 4-2 win, Murphy netted a shorthanded goal in the third period to make it a 4-0 game at the time. Prior to his goal, Murphy had a pair of assists which came on the team's second and third goals of the game. On the season, he is tied for second on the team with 17 points coming from six goals and 11 assists. Murphy's aggressive play has provided a spark for the team and he will look to keep his production up as the team gears up for the postseason.
 
Balanced Attack: Utica has scored 83 goals on the season and is averaging 4.37 per game which ranks fourth in the nation. This offense is a well-oiled machine with production coming from a widespread number of skaters. Nine players have scored at least five goals on the season with Michael Herrara leading the way with nine. The team leads the UCHC in goals scored as well as assists by a large margin with 152 helpers – 25 more than then second-ranked Wilkes. 
 
The Scoville Scale: Brian Scoville (Agawam, MA/Alabama-Huntsville (NCAA DI)) is currently on a seven-game point streak, scoring 13 points over this span. The senior is leading the team in points on the season with 22 and ranks 33rd in the nation with 14 assists. His veteran presence has been key for a Utica team comprised of 16 new players to the program.
 
About King's: The King's Monarchs are an improved team this season, currently sitting at 8-11-0 after winning only six games last year. They will look to make a playoff push this year as they are currently 7-7-0 in conference play and sit in fifth in UCHC action. The arrival of Ethan Hersant has been a game changer for the team. Hersant transferred into King's after previously playing two seasons for St. Olaf. The junior leads the team in goals with 11 and has also accumulated eight assists. Junior forward Kent Lee is playing a large role for the team once again, leading the team in assists with 13 along with four goals. After only scoring four points last season, Aaron Frenkel has also stepped up this year, scoring seven goals and providing six assists. The Monarchs' goalies have combined for a modest .905 save percentage and allow 3.5 goals per game. Their most efficient netminder has been Matt Bidini who has appeared in eight games with a .928 save percentage. 
 
Series History: Utica is 10-0-0 all time against King's, dating back to their first matchup in 2017. In 2023, the Pioneers swept the season series by a combined score of 17-3. Regan Cavanagh led all Pioneers with four goals scored in those two matchups last season. With an improved King's team that is looking to make a UCHC playoff appearance for the first time, these matchups will carry some more weight for the Monarchs than in previous years.

Up Next: The Pioneers will return home to host Alvernia University for Dunkin' Night at 7 p.m. on February 9 as well as for Northern Safety & Industrial Night at 7 p.m. on February 10.