UTICA, NY - The No. 11 Utica University women's hockey team heads to Rochester, NY to take on the Nazareth University Golden Flyers in the UCHC Championship game. The winner receives an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Women's Ice Hockey Tournament.
Follow Along: Nazareth will provide live video and live stats through
https://portal.stretchinternet.com/nazareth/.
Last Time Out: The then-No. 14 Utica University women's hockey team beat Manhattanville College 5-1 on Saturday night to earn a trip to the UCHC Championship Game for the second straight season.
Erica Sloan (Potsdam, NY/St. Lawrence Steel) led the team with three points, tallying one goal and two assists.
Abby Lillis (West Seneca, NY/Buffalo Bisons) had two points with one goal and one assist with
Carly Stefanini (Framingham, MA/Brooks School) adding a pair of assists.
Kaci Ryder (Shrewsbury, MA/WC Swans),
Ava Suda (Cheektowaga, NY/Buffalo Bisons),
Cortney Staniszewski (Buffalo, NY/Niagara Jr. Purple Eagles),
Carolyn Whitney (Raleigh, NC/Millbrook School),
Autumn Mish (Long Lake, NY/University of New Hampshire (NCAA DI)), and
Tess Barrett (Tewksbury, MA/St. Mark's) each recorded one point.
Angela Hawthorne (Santa Clara, CA/Meijer) was fantastic in net making 14 saves and allowing just one goal to pick up the victory in goal. Utica out-shot Manhattanville 30 to 15 and did well at controlling the puck and kept it in the attacking or neutral zone for the majority of the game. It was a quiet start to the contest before Utica struck first at the 15:54 mark when
Cortney Staniszewski (Buffalo, NY/Niagara Jr. Purple Eagles) tipped in an
Autumn Mish (Long Lake, NY/University of New Hampshire (NCAA DI)) shot to give the Pioneers a 1-0 edge.
Ava Suda (Cheektowaga, NY/Buffalo Bisons) and Mish recorded assists on the play. Utica did well defensively, recording a penalty kill while winning the shots battle 9 to 6. The Pioneers held a slim 1-0 lead after the first period of play. It was a dominant period for the Pioneers who kept the pressure on living in the attacking zone with
Erica Sloan (Potsdam, NY/St. Lawrence Steel) slapping home a beautiful goal to increase the Utica lead to 2-0 at the 6:33 mark.
Carly Stefanini (Framingham, MA/Brooks School) and
Abby Lillis (West Seneca, NY/Buffalo Bisons) earned the assists after setting up the play beautifully. The Pioneers kept firing off shots as
Tess Barrett (Tewksbury, MA/St. Mark's) sniped one past the goaltender to push the lead to 3-0 at the 13:36 mark off with an apple going to
Kaci Ryder (Shrewsbury, MA/WC Swans). Utica was fantastic defensively allowing just two shots on goal and took a 3-0 lead into the final period of play. The Valiants struck first in the third to make it a 3-1 contest at the 5:48 mark. However, Utica responded to recapture a three-goal advantage as
Abby Lillis (West Seneca, NY/Buffalo Bisons) found the back of the net at the 17:36 mark off assists from Sloan and Stefanini to capitalize on the power play.
Carolyn Whitney (Raleigh, NC/Millbrook School) scored at the 18:56 mark off a Sloan feed to secure the 5-1 UCHC Semifinal win for Utica.
In the Polls: The Utica University women's hockey team improved to No. 11 in this week's US College Hockey Online Women's Top 15. The poll was released Monday by the national college hockey website. The Pioneers received 86 points this week to move up three spots from its previous No. 14 ranking. Utica won its first pair of postseason games last week with a 5-0 win over Chatham University in the UCHC Quarterfinals and a 5-1 win over Manhattanville College in the UCHC Semifinals to head to its second straight title game. The entire Division III women's poll can be found at
https://www.uscho.com/rankings/d-iii-womens-poll/.
Back For Vengeance: Utica faces Nazareth in the UCHC Championship once again, this time looking to avenge their loss and bring home the programs first conference championship. In last season's bout, the Pioneers fell 3-2 in double OT.
Maggie Rylott (Cobourg, Ontario/West Northumberland) and
Carly Stefanini (Framingham, MA/Brooks School) scored Utica's goals and
Angela Hawthorne (Santa Clara, CA/Meijer) made an incredible 48 saves.
League's Finest: Six members of the No. 14 Utica University women's hockey team have been named to All-UCHC teams, as announced by the league on Wednesday.
Madison Novotny (Wesley Chapel, FL/Northwood School) was excellent on defense once again this season, earning All-UCHC First Team honors. Novotny was a key piece of a Utica defense that allowed only 27 goals this season which ranked eighth fewest in the nation and second in the UCHC. She scored four goals and provided 15 assists for a career best 19 point year. This is her fourth All-UCHC honor as she made the All-Rookie team in 2021, and All-UCHC First Team in 2022 and 2023.
Hailey Modlin (Phoenix, AZ/Boston Shamrocks) was awarded All-UCHC Second Team honors after a spectacular senior campaign. Modlin paced a high powered Utica offense this season with a team high 17 goals which was third best in the nation. She also added 15 assists for a career best 32 point season. This is Modlin's first All-UCHC honor.
Carolyn Whitney (Raleigh, NC/Millbrook School) built on her outstanding career resume this season, earning herself All-UCHC Second Team honors. Leading the team in points, Whitney scored 14 goals while assisting on 20 for a career high 34 point year. Her 20 assists led all UCHC skaters. She moved herself up the career record books this year, currently ranking fifth in career assists (70), seventh in goals (49), and seventh in points (119). This is Whitney's third All-UCHC honor, as she was named to the All-Rookie team in 2020, and First Team All-UCHC in 2021.
Tess Barrett (Tewksbury, MA/St. Mark's) was a key defensive anchor for the team and earned herself All-UCHC Second Team honors. Barrett appeared in every game for the team and dished out 19 assists, ranking second highest on the team, and fourth in the UCHC. The sophomore defender scored two goals as well for a 21 point season. This is Barrett's second All-UCHC honor, as she was named to the All-Rookie team in 2023.
Erica Sloan (Potsdam, NY/St. Lawrence Steel) garnered UCHC Honorable Mention accolades after another terrific campaign with the team. As a graduate student, Sloan set the program's all-time goals record with 77 and counting. She also ranks second in points with 157 and third in assists with 80. Sloan scored 16 goals and provided 15 assists this season for 31 points, ranking fifth in the UCHC. This is her fourth All-UCHC honor.
Angela Hawthorne (Santa Clara, CA/Meijer) was named an All-UCHC Honorable Mention for a stellar senior season. Hawthorne notched a .950 save percentage, placing her second in the conference along with an incredible .94 goals allowed per game, ranking atop the UCHC. She holds the fewest goals allowed per game in program history with 1.14, most shutouts with 17, save percentage at .948 and wins with 52. This is her fourth All-UCHC honor.
About Nazareth: The Golden Flyers wrapped up their regular season at 21-5-1 with a 19-0-1 conference record to earn the No. 1 seed in the UCHC Conference Tournament. Nazareth has blanked both its opponents in the Tournament thus far beating Kings 5-0 in the Quarterfinals and Wilkes 4-0 in the Semifinals. Nazareth has a plethora of playmakers with Meredith Boettcher and Ella Cedrone each leading the team with 26 points and firing off over 100 shots this season. Makenna Wiljanen and Ingrid Holstad have played pivotal roles as well scoring 24 and 21 points apiece. McKinley Hoff has been excellent in net this season, starting 22 games while allowing only 21 goals with a .945 save percentage.
Season Bouts: The Pioneers dropped both games to Nazareth earlier this year. Both games were close fought with Utica losing 3-2 and 2-1.
Carolyn Whitney (Raleigh, NC/Millbrook School) led the team with two goals in the season series while
Erica Sloan (Potsdam, NY/St. Lawrence Steel) provided the third. Utica will look to collect a victory in the biggest game of the season on Saturday as they seek their first UCHC Championship.
Up Next: The winner will earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament beginning on Wednesday, March 6 with the time, opponent, and location to be determined. The NCAA selection will be aired on Sunday, March 3 at 8:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.
