UTICA, NY - The No. 2 Utica University men's hockey team begins its hunt for the program's third-straight UCHC Championship this Wednesday as the top-seeded Pioneers host the eighth-seeded Nazareth University Golden Flyers in the quarterfinals on Feb. 21. Puck drop from the ADK Bank Center is set for 7 p.m.  
 
Follow Along: Those unable to attend can keep up with live video and/or stats through https://portal.stretchinternet.com/utica/. 
 
Ticket Info: UCHC Quarterfinal & Semifinal tickets are now available to the general public. To purchase yours, visit https://empirestatetix.evenue.net/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/SEGetEventList?groupCode=UCP&linkID=utica&shopperContext=&caller=&appCode=. 
 
Last Time Out: The No. 2 Utica University men's hockey team wrapped up its final regular season matchup with a 5-3 win over Arcadia last Saturday afternoon. Shane Murphy (Oriskany, NY/Danbury Hat Tricks (NAHL)) kept impressing as of late, registering three goals for his second hat-trick of the season. John Gutt (Middletown, NJ/Utica JR Comets (NCDC)) (1g, 3a), Matt Wood (Garnet Valley, PA/Richmond Generals (USPHL)) (0g, 2a) and Brian Scoville (Agawam, MA/Alabama-Huntsville (NCAA DI)) (0g, 3a) had multi-point games of their own. Gabriel Lundberg (Gothenburg, Sweden/Janesville Jets (NAHL)) (1g, 0a), Aydin Parekh (Nobleton, ON/Georgetown Raiders (OJHL)) (0g, 1a) and Andrew Della Rovere (Caledon East, ON/Georgetown Raiders (OJHL)) (0g, 1a) each registered a point. Bryan Landsberger (Montreal, Quebec/Nepean Raiders (CCHL)) started in net for Utica for the second-straight game and posted his ninth win while registering 20 saves. The first period went scoreless for the first 14 minutes of action until Arcadia's Donnie Feldman capitalized on a power play, giving the Knights a 1-0 lead. Feldman was assisted by Jared Shuter and Brendan Dicker. With 3:53 left in the period, Utica evened the score at one apiece after Della Rovere and Scoville assisted Lundberg who scored his second goal of the 2023-24 season. The first period would conclude at 1-1. It was an eventful second period as five goals were scored between Arcadia and Utica. The line of Shane Murphy (Oriskany, NY/Danbury Hat Tricks (NAHL)), John Gutt (Middletown, NJ/Utica JR Comets (NCDC)) and Matt Wood (Garnet Valley, PA/Richmond Generals (USPHL)) has been on fire as of late. The trio accounted for three goals in the second period and combined for four points. Murphy got the scoring started in the second for Utica with 1:51 into the period. Gutt and Wood connected with Murphy to give Utica a 2-1 advantage. Nine minutes later, Arcadia's Bryce Battaglia found the back of the net off a beautiful feed from Josh German and Jack Quigley to notch the game at 2-2. Shortly after, Utica would go up 3-2 after Gutt connected with Murphy with 13:08 left in the second. Three minutes later, Arcadia struck back as Aaron Hamel tied the game at three goals apiece. The scoring was not done yet; with just under two minutes to play Gutt would score and collect another point, as he is currently on an eight-game point streak. Utica would head into the third period up 4-3. Not much action played out in the third period. With 37 seconds left, Murphy scored an empty netter, collecting his second hat-trick of the season which ultimately put Arcadia away. Utica would go onto win its final regular season game 5-3.
 
In the Polls: The Utica University men's hockey team remained No. 2 in this week's US College Hockey Online Men's Top 15. The poll was released Monday by the national college hockey website. The Pioneers received 271 points this week, two more than the 269 points received last week, to remain second in the poll. Utica swept its weekend series at home against Arcadia with a 9-1 win on Friday and a 5-2 victory on Saturday to cap-off another unbeaten conference slate. The entire Division III men's poll can be found at https://www.uscho.com/rankings/d-iii-mens-poll/. 
 
Postseason Merchandise Deals: Starting during Wednesday's UCHC Quarterfinal game, special playoff merchandise deals will take place at the merchandise table located in the main concourse. All hats and long sleeve t-shirts will be sold for just $5 while all sweatshirts will be marked down to just $10. 
 
Jersey Action: Saturday's game-worn Davidson Chevrolet orange jerseys are now available for auction. Fans can email Director of Hockey Operations Neil Trout (nctrout@utica.edu) with their bids (minimum starting bid $100). You can also bid on a jersey on the day of the semifinal game at the ADK Bank Center beginning at 6 p.m.
 
* Minimum Bid - $100
* Buy it Now Price - $300
* Online bidding is currently available
* In-person bidding starts at the rink at 6 p.m.
* Bidding will conclude following the UCHC Semifinal game on Feb. 24. 
* Bids must be made in increments of $5
 
The Bracket: The eight-team 2024 UCHC Men's Hockey Championship Tournament will take place with quarterfinal action on Wednesday, Feb. 21, Semifinals on Saturday, Feb. 24 and the Championship game on Saturday, March 2. The UCHC Champion receives an automatic berth into the 2024 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Championship Tournament. Aside from the top-seeded Pioneers clashing with (8) Nazareth, other Wednesday semifinal games include second-seeded Stevenson hosting seventh-seeded King's at 5 p.m., third-seeded Wilkes hosting sixth-seeded Chatham at 5 p.m., and fourth-seeded Alvernia hosting fifth-seeded Manhattanville at 7 p.m. 
 
A Look Back: Utica has qualified for the UCHC Tournament as the number one seed for the seventh season in a row. Since joining the UCHC in 2017, Utica has been crowned conference champion four times, with an accumulative record of 16-2 in the playoffs. The team is on a six-game UCHC Tournament win streak, with their last loss dating back to 2021 when the team fell to Elmira in triple OT. Utica has knocked Nazareth out of the playoffs five times in six years and they will look to do so a sixth time on Wednesday. 
 
How we Enter: Utica enters the UCHC tournament on a 14-game win streak, with their last loss coming back in December of 2023 against Oswego. The team has dominated their competition all year, with a winning margin of 3.32 which ranks second best in the nation behind Hobart. Utica has scored the third most goals in the nation as well with 122. With a combined .940 save percentage, goalies Bryan Landsberger (Montreal, Quebec/Nepean Raiders (CCHL)) and Ethan Roberts (Cary, NC/University of St. Thomas (NCAA DI)) have been tremendous in net. Landsberger's .951 save percentage is fourth best in the nation. 
 
Marvelous Murphy: Shane Murphy (Oriskany, NY/Danbury Hat Tricks (NAHL)) notched his second UCHC Player of the Week award for his five-goal weekend vs Arcadia. After the team fell behind 1-0 early in Friday's contest, Murphy tied the game up just four minutes later. He would score another goal in the second period, putting the team up 3-1 at the time. Saturday's game was more closely contested with Utica winning 5-3. Murphy compiled his second hat-trick of the season, propelling Utica to victory and earning himself UCHC Player of the Week. The junior leads the team in goals with 12, also ranking him 10th in the UCHC. 
 
About Nazareth: The Nazareth Golden Flyers finished regular season play with a record of 6-17-2. After coming off a program-best 18-win season last year and a trip to the UCHC Championship game, Nazareth took a step back in 2024, having a 5-13-2 record in conference play. Goals have been hard to come by for them, scoring a conference-worst 56 goals while allowing 82. Sophomore Logan Tobias has been a bright spot for the team, leading them with 14 goals which also ranks fifth in the UCHC. Blake Frost leads the team in assists, providing 10 while scoring six goals. Matt Sayles has been the team's top netminder, allowing 2.63 goals per game with a .911 save percentage. 
 
Season Slate: Utica made easy work of Nazareth earlier this season, topping them 7-0 and 4-2. Bryan Landsberger (Montreal, Quebec/Nepean Raiders (CCHL)) was fantastic in the former game, allowing no goals while making 26 saves. Murphy had a hat-trick in the seven goal offensive eruption as well. Brian Scoville (Agawam, MA/Alabama-Huntsville (NCAA DI)), Michael Herrera (Syracuse, NY/Utica Comets (NCDC)), Kimball Johnson (Dallas, TX/University of St. Thomas (NCAA DI)), and Murphy provided goals in the latter matchup. The Pioneers look to complete the series sweep on Wednesday and advance to the semifinals. 

Up Next: With a win, the Pioneers will host the lowest remaining seed in the UCHC Semifinals at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 24 at the ADK Bank Center.