UTICA, NY - UCHC season in Utica will once again be in full effect when the Pioneers meet Manhattanville for the first time this season in a weekend conference double this Friday and Saturday. First up, on Friday, the #2 ranked Pioneers will head down to Rye, New York and search for a series-opening victory versus the Valiants. That game at the Playland Ice Casino will take place at 7:00 PM on Friday night. After meeting Manhattanville in enemy territory, the Pioneers will return home to the Adirondack Bank Center the next night to complete the two-game set versus the Valiants. Saturday's showdown will also start at 7:00 PM and will also be AmeriCU night sponsored by AmeriCU Credit Union.
 
How to Watch the Weekend Series vs Manhattanville: You can watch this weekend's matchups by heading to the links below or by clicking the "Watch" link under each contest on our men's hockey schedule page.
Stream link for Friday's game at Manhattanville: https://govaliants.com/watch/?Live=933&type=Live
Stream link for Saturday's game in Utica: https://www.empire8network.com/utica/
 
Keep Up with Live Stats: You can follow along with live statistics for the games by heading to the "Live Stats" tab under the matchups in the Men's Ice Hockey schedule section of our athletics website. You can also follow the links below to view live statistics for this weekend's two-game slate.
Live stat link for Friday's game at Manhattanville: https://govaliants.com/sidearmstats/mhockey/summary
Live stat link for Saturday's game in Utica: https://uticapioneers.com/sidearmstats/mhockey/summary
 
Recapping the Restart: The Pioneers welcomed scorching side Oswego to the Adirondack Bank Center last Friday on First Source Night in the orange and blue's first game action of 2025. The Lakers leapt into last weekend's contest on an absolute tear, emerging as winners of their last three games while also outscoring their opposition 18-0 over the trio of victories. Tasked with slowing down Oswego's runaway offense was Pioneer newcomer Ryan Piros (Hartland, MI/University of Dubuque (NCAA DIII)), who made his first start in goal for the Central New York side after transferring in from Iowa-based school University of Dubuque. Not only was Piros in his first start for Division III's (at the time) #3 ranked team, but he's also still in his debut collegiate season, joining the Pioneers as just a freshman. Despite his relative newness to the collegiate hockey stage, Piros fit in perfectly, notching a solid start in his first Adirondack Bank action to register the first win of his collegiate career against some intense non-conference competition. Piros stuffed everyone except for the Lakers lead man Matt McQuade, and even then, he still managed to stuff McQuade a couple times throughout the course of the night. All-in-all it was an excellent night in goal for the youngster, who stood tall and helped the Pioneers to victory in their opening game of 2025. Eric Vitale (Toronto, ON/Shreveport Mudbugs (NAHL)) was the other Pioneer player who had a memorable night last Friday, as he found net twice and recorded the game-winning goal in the victory over the Lakers. Vitale scored two skillful goals on the rush, getting the third and fourth score to vault the Pioneers to victory. Utica's win over Oswego propelled them up to #2 in both Division III hockey polls after a shocking loss by their direct competition. More on the new rankings down below.

Suiting Up: The Pioneers will welcome their fourth and final newcomer to the fold this weekend, as incoming transfer Colby Jaquet (Winnipeg, MB/University of Saskatchewan (Canada West)) will don the Moose for the first time this weekend when the Pioneers restart their crucial UCHC campaign. Jaquet last hit the ice in 2024, suiting up for the University of Saskatchewan in the USports Canadian collegiate league. Jaquet played two seasons for the Huskies, appearing in 26 games and totaling one goal and 12 assists. The Winnipeg native's most explosive season occurred during his 2021-22 season with the Dauphin Kings of the MJHL. During that season with the Kings "A" team, Jaquet netted 12 goals and an absurd 50 assists in 54 games, averaging north of a point per contest. Jaquet will join the squad as a Junior and will look to get back into the swing of things after taking a brief break from competition. He'll join an experienced group of Pioneer defenders and will wear number 8 as he suits up for the Pioneers.



 UCHC Undertaking: From here on out, the Pioneers will face only UCHC competitors, with the conference gauntlet truly getting underway come this weekend. There were no shifts in the UCHC standings last week since every team engaged in non-conference contests. Heading into the deciding stretch of UCHC competition, Geneseo leads the conference with 22 points. The Knights pulled ahead in the conference race due to their December 7th victory over the Pioneers, however, the Pioneers are well within reach thanks to their shootout win the night before, which gifted them an extra point and allowed them to stay just behind the Knights with 20 points. The complete UCHC standings as of today (1/14/25) are as follows:
 
1: Geneseo | 22 points | 10-0-1 (7-0-1 UCHC)
2: Utica | 20 points | 9-2-1 (6-1-1 UCHC)
3: Manhattanville | 10 points | 3-7-1 (3-4-1 UCHC)
4: Nazareth | 10 points | 5-4-2 (2-4-2 UCHC)
5: Chatham | 8 points | 3-7-1 (2-5-1 UCHC)
6: Brockport | 2 points | 1-7-2 (1-7 UCHC)
 
Another One: Pioneer rookie Anthony Bax (Parkhill, ON/Flin Flon Bombers (SJHL)) snagged yet another UCHC Rookie of the Week Award, the league announced on Monday. Bax shared his ROTW nod with Kaleb Miller of SUNY Brockport, with the Co-Rookie of the Week shout making it three on the season for the talented defensemen. Bax has been a revelation in his first year for the Pioneers, slowly ascending the line chart and recently being featured on the top defensive line alongside Captain and reigning UCHC Player/Defensive Player of the Year Brian Scoville (Agawam, MA/Alabama-Huntsville (NCAA DI)). The mix of veteran class in Scoville and talented youth in Bax have combined for a potent pairing along the backline for the Pioneers this season. Bax has been a premier playmaking weapon, using his superior position on defense and at the blue line to open up alleys for his accomplices to score. The former Flin Flon Bomber has one goal and an outrageous 11 assists on the season, slotting him in as one of the top apple-attainers in all of Division III. Bax has given the Pioneers a lot to look forward to in the future, but in the short term, his talent is very evident among a Utica lineup that is chock full of veteran playmakers. Bax will look to continue contributing on the first line defense in the near future.
 
In the Polls: The Pioneers crept up to #2 in this week's USCHO and DIII Hockey News polls after Geneseo's shock 6-2 loss at Elmira on Friday night. The Knights' conundrum in their first game of 2025 allowed Utica to boost up to number 2, just one spot behind undefeated Hobart at the top of the Division III Men's Hockey Rankings. Geneseo dropped down just one spot, landing at #3 in both the USCHO and DIII Hockey News polls. Other than the Knights, none of the Pioneers remaining opponents are featured anywhere in either ranking. Nazareth received some votes in both of last week's rankings, however, even after a tight 5-4 victory in Cortland against a tough Red Dragon team, a weekend defeat at home against Oswego doomed the Golden Flyers who were left completely off this week's polls.
 
Despite no future opponents (besides Geneseo) having any ranking representation, many of the Pioneers' victims from earlier in the season are still featured in the rankings. Utica's first 2024-25 hurdle, Adrian, is back up to #6 in the USCHO poll and #4 in the DIII Hockey News poll after finding themselves towards the bottom of the rankings at the end of 2024. The Pioneers split with the then top 3 team over in Michigan, giving the Pioneers a quality victory to start the year.
 
The Pioneers' opposition in their most thrilling game of the season so far is also back in the rankings, with University of New England slotting in at #12 in the USCHO poll and #14 in the DIII Hockey News poll. Oswego is receiving votes in both polls, while Stevenson got a single vote in this week's USCHO poll. The Pioneers went 3-0 against those teams, with all wins coming at home, bolstering their impressive resume so far.
 
Vetting the Valiants: Manhattanville is 4-8-1 on the season, with their UCHC record sitting at 3-4-1. The Valiants are 1-4 in non-conference competition this campaign, although three of their four non-conference losses are against high-power programs in Hobart, Trinity (CT), and Cortland State. The men of Harrison, New York have faced each UCHC team this season except for the Pioneers. They swept Brockport, lost and then tied against Nazareth, and got swept by Chatham and Geneseo.
 
Manhattanville has scored 2.8 goals per game and allowed opponents to net 3.5 goals per game over their 12 total contests so far. They convert power plays at a 22% rate while holding their opponents to just a 12% power play conversion rate, a solid penalty kill showing that allows other teams around one score every 10 advantage chances. The Pioneers will need to be sharp should they receive power play opportunities against the Valiants. Look for Jakob Breault (Acton Vale, QC/Alaska-Fairbanks (NCAA DI)), Johnny Mulera (Rockville, MD/Salve Regina University (NCAA DIII)), and new addition Collin Patterson (Rockledge, FL/UMass Dartmouth (NCAA DIII)) to come alive during any Utica advantages.
 
Manhattanville's offense is led by a two-headed sophomore monster in Nicholas Rogers and Johno Hoins with the former having six goals and the latter having a team-high twelve goals. No one on the Valiant roster is within multiple goals of Hoins or Rogers with the next closest scorers being Artem Mateichenko and Mitchell Watson at three goals each. There are, however, lots of Manhattanville skaters with ascendant assist numbers, with Lane Paddison and Mateichenko each accruing a team-high 10 assists Hoins not far behind with eight assists.
 
The Valiants' lead man Rogers is also a force on the power play for the UCHC side, netting five of his 12 scores when up a player. He also has a trio of game-winning scores.
 
The Valiants' situation in net has been split out over three suitors this season, with a trio of Manhattanville netminders seeing time in at least three games each. Clarke Tripp has the least time in net, but still posts a solid 139 minutes in goal, sporting an 0-2 record and 5.18 goals allowed average. The Valiants' second most-used stopper is Sebastian Woods, a former member of the Utica Jr. Comets. Woods has allowed 18 goals this season, owning a 4.82 goals allowed average and a .890 save percentage. Finally, the most utilized netminder is sophomore William Billequey, who has the best numbers by a significant margin, holding three wins and a .938 save percentage.
 
At the helm for Manhattanville is head coach Dave Turco, who is in his fifth season leading the Valiants.
 
AmeriCU Night: Saturday's contest will be AmeriCU night sponsored by AmeriCU Credit Union. There will be a raffle contest held at the AmeriCU table down in the concourse. The winner will be announced during the third period so make sure to stop by the AmeriCU table for your chance to win!
 
After the Weekend Slate vs the Valiants: The Pioneers will continue UCHC play, welcoming Nazareth to the Adirondack Bank Center on Thursday, January 23rd before heading to the Time Horton's Iceplex in Henrietta, New York on Saturday to complete the two-game set with the Golden Flyers.
 
We'll see you on Saturday night for AmeriCU night vs Manhattanville!