UTICA, NY - The No. 2 Utica University men's hockey team returns to the NCAA Division III Frozen Four Semifinals for the first time since the 2012-13 season. The Pioneers will take on the No. 1 Hobart College Statesmen at 3 p.m. on Thursday, March 21 from the Koeppel Community Sports Center in Hartford, CT.
 
Follow Along: The game will be broadcasted live on NCAA.com while fans in the Utica area can also listen to Ray Biggs and Jeff Kopek on the call on WPNR 90.7 FM or on https://www.pioneerradio.org/. Live stats will also be featured on NCAA.com or through https://bantamsports.com/index.aspx.
 
Semifinal Ticket Information: Utica University has been allotted 375 tickets for Thursday's NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Frozen Four Semifinal game between the No. 2 Utica Pioneers and No. 1 Hobart College Statesmen. Utica and Hobart are set to square off at 3 p.m. on Thursday, March 21 from the Koeppel Community Sports Center in Hartford, CT.  Reserved Utica tickets will be $15 per individual and can be purchased through https://bantamsports.tscheckout.com/event/ncaa-mens-frozen-four---semifinal-game-1/reserved-utica. General public tickets are also available for $15 per adult, $10 for seniors (65+) and $10 for children (3+). Said tickets can be purchased through https://bantamsports.tscheckout.com/. NOTE: Trinity will be clearing the rink between games, so fans planning to attend both games will need a ticket to both semifinal games on Thursday, March 21. Any unclaimed reserved Utica tickets will deactivate at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, March 20 and remaining tickets will move into the general public allotment.
 
Digital Program: Fans can access the NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Championship Tournament program through https://www.ncaa.com/DIIIMensIceHockey.
 
Commemorative Merchandise: Championship apparel can be purchased through https://www.event1teamstore.com/ice-hockey/men-s/div-iii.html.
 
Watch Party: The Utica men's hockey team will sponsor watch parties for the community on Thursday. The 72 Tavern & Grill and Babe's at Harbor Point will both stream the game for fans. Students on campus can also attend the watch party that will be located at the Strebel Student Center hosted by the Office of Student Living & Campus Engagement.
 
Feeling Frozen: This marks Utica's second trip to the Frozen Four in program history. The 2012-13 season marked the team's first trip in which they fell to Wisconsin Eau-Claire in the semifinals, 5-1. During that 2012-13 season, Utica fell to Manhattanville in the conference tournament 3-2 before receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Receiving a first round bye, Utica defeated Bowdoin 4-2 in the NCAA Quarterfinals and traveled to Lake Placid for the Frozen Four. Wisconsin Eau-Claire would go on to win the National Title that year, defeating Oswego State in the championship game, 5-3.

Running It Back: The Pioneers will have the benefit of multiple staff members with national semifinal experience on their bench this weekend. Head Coach Gary Heenan is now in his 23rd season, and led the Pioneers on their first run to the championship weekend in 2013. His starting goaltender from that season was current assistant coach Nick Therrien. During the 2012-13 campaign, Therrien was 19-5-1 as the starter for the Pioneers. He made 27 saves in the NCAA quarterfinal win against Bowdoin, and 21 saves in Utica's semifinal loss.
 
Empire State of Mind: Thursday's game will mark the first time ever that the Pioneers will meet an in-state opponent in NCAA tournament play, and the Statesmen will become just Utica's fifth different national tournament opponent. In quarterfinal play, the Pioneers have exclusively met teams from the states of Maine and New Hampshire, and met Wisconsin-Eau Claire in their one prior semifinal appearance.
 
How We Got Here: This year's team goes into the Frozen Four with a 24-2-3 overall record along with a 19-0-1 slate in UCHC play. Utica welcomed 18 new players to the team this year who have gelled together exceptionally well to help the team make its second run to the Frozen Four. Utica won its third straight UCHC Tournament this season, defeating Nazareth, Alvernia, and Stevenson on the way. Their fantastic regular season earned them a first round bye in the NCAA Tournament, bringing them to host Plymouth State in the Quarterfinals who they defeated 4-1. While sitting at No. 2 in the USCHO National Poll, Utica placed fourth in the Pairwise Rankings which is used to determine seeding in the NCAA Tournament. Their ranking of fourth has set them up for a matchup with No. 1 Hobart in the Frozen Four. Utica has had many battles against Hobart in the past, going 17-23-4 all-time against them. The teams last squared off in 2017 where Hobart emerged victorious, winning 2-1 in an overtime thriller. 
 
About Hobart: The defending National Champion Hobart Statesmen are ranked No. 1 in the nation once again with a record of 26-2-1. Most recently in the NCAA Quarterfinals, they defeated Curry in a wild quadruple overtime game in which Hobart would prevail, 4-3. This game featured 135 minutes on the ice, more than two standard hockey games. Hobart is the highest scoring team in the NCAA, as they have netted 156 goals for 5.38 goals per game. The Statesmen have the NEHC Player of the Year, Artem Buzoverya. The senior forward has eight goals along with 23 assists on the year, and has been an integral part of the team once again. The team has two other First-Team NEHC skaters in Tanner Hartman and Ignat Belov. Hartman leads the conference in points with 44, coming from 19 goals and 25 assists. Belov has been excellent as well, tallying 37 points with 16 goals and 21 assists. The team has a balanced offense around these three starts with seven other skaters totaling at least 20 points on the season. Hobart also has the nation's top goalie statistically in Damon Beaver. Beaver is allowing only .98 goals per game, with a .960 save percentage, both of which lead all NCAA goalies.
 
Trinity/Adrian Outlook: The Trinity Bantams, the host school of the Frozen Four, are ranked third in the nation with a record of 24-3-1. They made easy work of teams in the NESCAC Tournament before defeating Elmira 2-0 in the NCAA Quarterfinals. The team has a balanced attack with eight skaters sitting in the range of 15-to-22 points accumulated. Their top two scorers are Richard Boysen and Devan Tongue. Boysen has scored 11 goals and dished out 11 assists, while Tongue has seven goals and 13 assists. Devon Bobak has been excellent in net, allowing only 1.2 goals per game which ranks second in the nation. He also has a .943 save percentage which marks fourth best across the NCAA. The Adrian Bulldogs are the fourth ranked team in the NCAA with a record of 24-6-1. After falling to St. Norbert in the NCHA Tournament, Adrian received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The team has since defeated Wisconsin Stevens-Point in the first round and then avenged their loss against St. Norbert in the quarterfinals, winning 5-3. Headlining Adrian's success is Mathew Rehding. Rehding is second in the nation in scoring with 48 points. The senior has scored 16 goals and leads the NCAA with 32 assists. The team scores in bunches with 143 goals, second to only Hobart. Zachary Heintz, Jaden Shields, Bradley Somers, and Jacob Suede have all scored at least 34 points to power this high scoring offense. Dershahn Stewart has been solid as the team's goaltender allowing 1.78 goals per game with a .935 save percentage.
 
Up Next: With a win in the national semifinals, the Pioneers would advance to the NCAA Division III National Championship game to face the winner of No. 3 Trinity College (CT) and No. 4 Adrian College at 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 23.