UTICA, NY - Utica University's women's hockey team is set to kick off a challenging midseason stretch of games with a home-and-home series against the #14-ranked Elmira Soaring Eagles. Including potential opponents at the team's Kick-Off Tournament, Utica could play in just two games from now until January 31st against opponents who are not currently receiving votes, with one of them having just fallen out of the rankings in the last week. The Pioneers will face Elmira on the road in game one on Friday, the 21st, before the teams come to Utica the following day.

Follow Along: The video stream for Friday's road game can be found HERE, with the live stats available HERE. Saturday's game video stream can be found HERE, with live stats HERE.

Hilbert Headliners: Utica held dominant pressure in both of its games against Hilbert College last week. Game one ended in an 8-0 Utica victory, followed by a 6-0 game two win. Across the six periods of play, the Pioneers outshot the Hawks 149-11. 16 different Pioneers scored at least one point, led by four players with four or more. Junior defensemen Madison Richman (Scituate, MA/) and Nora Pollestad (Stavanger, Norway/) were impact players, each earning a +7 through the two contests. In both games, a different Utica goalie played each period. No goalie made more than four saves across both games, with Katherine Sheahan (Oak Lawn, IL) starting each game and being credited with the wins. 

Notable Newcomers: The Pioneers have benefited from the strong contributions of several freshmen. Sheahan has served as the primary goalkeeper in each of Utica's matchups, starting each game and playing 220 of the 300 total goalie minutes played this season. In the net, Sheahan has played to a 1.09 goals allowed average and a .963 save percentage. Though she is only credited with one individual shutout from the team's 1-0 victory over then-#11-ranked Oswego State, Sheahan has played a key part in the team's three-game shutout streak. Sheahan was limited to just one period of play in each of the team's games against Hilbert, but earned "Goalie of the Week" honors from both the UCHC and Empire 8 following her two full-game outings against Oswego.

While Sheahan has been a superb backstop for the Utica defense, several of her freshman teammates have been putting points on the board in the offensive zone. Though senior Kaci Ryder (Shrewsbury, MA/) leads the team with six points, each of the next three highest scorers is in their first season. Samantha Dobrzynski (Garnet Valley, PA/) has tied Ryder for the team lead for assists with four, netting one goal as well. Behind her, Veronica Houk (Richboro, PA) and Cate Hart (Norfolk, MA/Proctor Academy) have matching stat lines of two goals, two assists. In total, 21 of the team's 40 total points have been scored by players in their first season with Utica.

Eyeing Elmira: Elmira has played to a 4-1-1 record in the early season, with a 1-0-1 UCHC record. The Soaring Eagles began their season 4-0, before their loss came in a 0-1 defeat by SUNY Potsdam. The squad then greeted St. John Fisher in the program's first-ever UCHC games, winning game one 3-1, and then taking a shootout victory in a 1-1 game two. The team's biggest win of the season came on November 1st in a home game against Salve Regina, which the Soaring Eagles won 6-0.

In the early season, several Soaring Eagles have risen to the top of the stat sheet, led by senior MK Boyle. Boyle has scored six goals, third most in the UCHC, and assisted on one more for a total of seven points. Anna Lugge sits behind Boyle, with three goals and three assists. Amber Meluzio also has a balanced stat line with two goals and two assists, joining Iliana Smith's four assists as the only other players with 4+ points. Alayna Toole has scored three goals as well, being the final Soaring Eagle with more than two points this season. Sara Sevcikova has been Elmira's go-to goalie this season, earning a 3-1-1 record so far, and holding a 0.60 goals allowed average and a .957 save percentage.

Up Next: The team will take just over a week off before two quick games to end the fall semester. On December 2nd, Utica will take the short trip to face off with #15 Hamilton College at their Russell Sage Rink at 7:00 pm. Just a few days later, on Friday, the 5th, the Pioneers will host the #4-ranked Middlebury College Panthers in a contest set to begin at 6:00 pm.