UTICA, NY - The No. 11 Utica University women's hockey team returns home for the first time in over a month against No. 5 Oswego State on Tuesday, January 28 at 7 p.m. The game will be played at the Utica University Nexus Center. On Friday, January 31 and Saturday, February 1, at 2 p.m., Utica faces Manhattanville University. Both games against Manhattanville will be played at the ADK Bank Center.
Story written as of January 27.

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Last Time Out: The No. 11 Utica University women's hockey team defeated the Worcester State Lancers 3-0 behind Jordan Kowalski's (Chicopee, MA/Westfield) three goals and Angela Hawthorne's (Santa Clara, CA/Meijer) 23 saves on January 18.
Kendall Best (Troy, MI/Troy HS / Belle Tire), Hailey Modlin (Phoenix, AZ/Boston Shamrocks) and Kelsey Elliott (Attleboro, MA/East Coast Wizards) each collected an assist. 17 different players registered at least one shot, with five totaling at least four. The first seven minutes of play were slow, with only five shots, four from Utica and one from Worcester. With 13:00 remaining in the first, the Pioneers turned it up a notch while establishing the offensive zone. With 12:24 on the clock, Kowalski played the puck beautifully off the boards, which resulted in a goal that gave the Pioneers a 1-0 lead. Kelsey Elliott (Attleboro, MA/East Coast Wizards) did a great job keeping the puck in the offensive zone, which led to Kowalski's opportunity. With under nine minutes left, Modlin had a grade-A chance on the doorstep off a Worcester turnover in the neutral zone but was turned away by Kelsey Czerniawski who made 44 saves on the evening. Utica closed out the first period up 1-0. Both teams came out energized in the second period, totaling 10 shots in five minutes of action. Kowalski notched her second goal on a power play chance from the Pioneers to give the team a 2-0 advantage with seven minutes left. Novotny did a great job being patient with the puck, which gave Kowalski time and space to rip it and score. Utica and Worcester entered the third period with a 2-0 Pioneer lead.
The last frame saw Utica's power play put an immense amount of pressure on Czerniawski midway through the third period, letting off four shots, but none found the back of the net. The Pioneer defense had a great night, getting their sticks in lanes and keeping the Lancer offense out of the middle of the ice. Kowalski scored her third goal off a beautiful breakout pass from Callie McLaughlin (Centerport, NY/New Hampton School) to give the Pioneers a 3-0 lead with 13:31 remaining. No more goals were scored as the Pioneers would take home a 3-0 victory.
 
Where We Stand: The Pioneers finish non-conference play with their game against Oswego. The team then team faces four conference opponents to wrap up the regular season (Manhattanville, Nazareth and Chatham). Utica sits eight points behind Nazareth (16). The Pioneers are 19th in NPI and Nazareth is 18th (the official win percentage index that determines NCAA seeding). Each game coming up will be huge down the stretch as the Pioneers look to make a playoff push.
 
Three-Game Streak: Over the last three games against Williams, Canton and Worcester St., 13 players have at least one point. Utica has played great team offense, collecting 11 goals and 19 assists in those games. Kowalski and Hancock have combined for seven goals, four for Kowalski and three for Hanock. Calhoun, Ally Nolan (Westford, MA/Chatham University (NCAA DIII)), Carly Stefanini (Framingham, MA/Brooks School) and Kaci Ryder (Shrewsbury, MA/Shrewsburg (Lady Flames)) each have one goal in those three games. The team has a combined .487 faceoff percentage (91-96) between Kendall Best (Troy, MI/Troy HS / Belle Tire), Hailey Modlin (Phoenix, AZ/Boston Shamrocks), Kowalski, and Abbey Lendzyk (Carver, MN/Woodbury (Minnesota Ice Cougars)). Hawthorne has only four goals allowed and sports a .955 save percentage with a 1.33 goals-against average. The Pioneers have been consistent with their shooting and goal scoring, totaling 121 shots in those games, with 45 in the first period, 44 in the second and 32 in the third. Utica has been great on their forecheck, getting the puck back and making more scoring chances. Defensively, the Pioneers have clogged shooting lanes and cleared the puck out, giving the offense more rush opportunities down the ice.
 
About Oswego: The Lakers are 13-2-1 overall and 9-1-1 in SUNYAC play, with their only two losses coming against Amherst (0-4) and Plattsburgh (0-2). Oswego is coming off two wins against Manhattanville (6-0 and 8-3). Mack Hull leads the team with 17 points off eight goals and nine assists. She has a team-leading four power-play goals, three game-winners and 58 shots. Rachael Corbet leads the way with 12 assists, and she has had eight in the last five games. Helen VanDamme leads defenders with six points off two goals and four assists. Lexi Levy is the team's top goaltender, sporting a 12-2-1 record with four shutouts. Levy has a 1.39 goals against average and a .949 save percentage. In her last two games against Amherst and Manhattanville, she allowed seven goals, three being on power play opportunities.
 
Utica vs Oswego History: Utica is 18-9-2 all-time against the Lakers and have won three straight games, outscoring Oswego 10 to 3. Utica has won five of the last eight games since 2016-2017.
 
About Manhattanville: The Valiants enter the weekend set after dropping both games on January 24 and 25 against Oswego (0-6 and 3-8). Catarina Chinetti leads Manhattanville with six goals on 45 shots. Ali Joly has seven points off three goals and four assists. Danika Aubin has six assists from the blue line, leading the way for the defense.  Olivia Cimorelli is the Valiant's top goaltender, starting in 10 games while sporting a 2.86 goals against average and a .927 save percentage.
 
Utica vs Manhattanville History: The Pioneers are 12-10-2 all-time against the Valiants, winning the last two games by a combined score of 8 to 1. The last time Manhattanville defeated Utica was in shootouts in 2023.
 
Up Next: The Pioneers host Nazareth on Friday, February 7 at 6:30 p.m. at the Utica University Nexus Center. Utica then travels to Nazareth on Saturday, February 8, for a 6 p.m. puck drop.