UTICA, NY - Pioneer Men's Hockey returned to the Adirondack Bank Center on Saturday night, welcoming former Utican Kevin Krogol and the Morrisville Mustangs for a season-opening exhibition to kick off their 25th anniversary season. In the matchup, the Pioneers stamped their return with a big 7-0 victory, headlined by newcomers and familiar faces alike lining the scoring column. The goal chart was headlined by junior transfer Nick Ahern (Chicago, IL), who racked up four goals and an assist in the action, getting involved in all but one Pioneer score. 

The Utica offense piled up shots during the affair, rattling up 74 attempts to the Mustangs' 16. Thanks to the team logging over a shot per minute, they managed to net seven scores in the contest, led by Ahern's four.

Also adding goals in the game were returners Andrew Della Rovere (Caledon East, Ontario), Drake Morse (Grand Rapids, MI), and newcomer Davis Goukler (Cumming, GA).

John Gutt (Middletown, NJ), Eric Vitale (Toronto, Ontario), and freshman defender Sal Cerrato (St. Louis, MO) contributed to a balanced playmaking effort, as each notched multiple assists in the game, with each player picking up two apples to combine for the team-lead in assists.

Also adding assists were Goukler, Will Hilfiker (Middletown, NJ), Aydin Parekh (Nobleton, ON), Alexander Gullichsen (Turku, Finland), and Anthony Bax (Parkhill, Ontario).

The team picked up 12 assists on their seven scores. 

Della Rovere and Gabriel Lundberg (Gothenburg, Sweden) led the faceoff effort, with the former winning 16 of his 19 opportunities, and the latter grabbing 11 faceoff wins in his 14 chances. 

Each of the Pioneer goalies, Frank Murphy (Mississauga, Ontario), Kyle Curtin (St. George, Ontario), and Avery Sturtz (Cedar Rapids, IA), received a period in goal, with all three combining for the shutout win. Sturtz also saved 10 shots in his 20 minutes of action.

The Pioneers will return to the Adirondack Bank Center next Friday, facing Skidmore at 7:00 PM in their final exhibition game before regular season play begins.