UTICA, NY - Utica University's women's hockey team is set to host the William Smith College Herons in a home exhibition on Friday, the 24th. The game, scheduled for 7:00 pm, will be the team's second and final preseason tune-up.

Follow Along: The video stream for Friday's matchup can be found HERE, with live stats found HERE.

Back to the Bears: Last Saturday, the 18th, the Pioneers began their season with a home exhibition against SUNY Potsdam. After a scoreless 1st period, the teams traded goals back in forth in the second, with Potsdam leading 2-1 after 40 minutes. Veronica Houk (Richboro, PA/) scored twice in the 3rd to secure a 3-2 Utica victory. Madison Richman (Scituate, MA/) led the Pioneers in points, scoring the team's first goal and assisting on both of Houk's. Utica played a different goalie in net each period, with Isabella Boehm (Framingham, MA/) leading the total saves tally with eight.

Word on William Smith: The Herons played to an 11-14-2 record in the 2024-25 season. The team fought hard in their conference, the New England Hockey Conference. They earned a 10-7-1 record in the NEHC, with their season coming to an end in the NEHC Championship Semifinal Round. The Herons, the #5 seed, battled to triple overtime against #1 seed Norwich University, eventually falling by a score of 3-2.

Last season, William Smith had four double-digit point scorers, with each of them tallying between 12 and 16. Bella Hacker, a then-freshman, was one of two 12-point scorers and is the only returning Heron from that group. Tara Valas, who had the 5th highest point total with seven, is also returning to the squad and will look to expand her role. 

Just two players appeared in net for William Smith last winter, Erin Murray and Mia Iwicki. Murray, who played roughly 84% of the available minutes in goal, graduated over the offseason, leaving Iwicki with a projected path to the #1 goalie spot. In five appearances last season, Iwicki earned a 2-2 record, one shutout, with a goals allowed average of 2.13 and a save percentage of .920. Murray played to a 9-12-2 record, with eight shutouts, and earned a 1.37 GAA and .948 save percentage.

Up Next: The Pioneers will kick off their regular season next weekend with a road matchup at SUNY Cortland. That game is scheduled to begin at 1:00 pm. The following weekend, Friday the 7th and Saturday the 8th, the team plays in a home-and-home with Oswego State. The Friday game will take place in Oswego at 7:00 pm, with the Pioneers hosting their regular-season home opener on Saturday, November 8th at 3:00 pm.