UTICA, NY - December has arrived in the Mohawk Valley, which means it's time for the Utica University men's hockey team to help bring in the holiday season with their 21st annual Teddy Bear Toss game presented by New York Sash! The yearly event is set for this Saturday, December 6th, and presents a second straight high-profile matchup, with the #14 Pioneers welcoming #4 Oswego State to the Aud. This year's event is sold out once again, continuing the game's tradition as one of the defining dates on the Mohawk Valley sports calendar. Get caught up ahead of this weekend's Teddy Bear Toss throwdown against Oswego!
 
The 21st Annual New York Sash Teddy Bear Toss: The orange and blue will welcome current USCHO #4-ranked Oswego State for this weekend's TBT showdown. Saturday's contest will be the only game for the Pioneers this week, while Oswego will meet #1 Hobart the night before in their own Teddy Bear Toss matchup.
 
The game will be televised on WKTV NewsChannel 2 in Utica, with longtime Pioneer voice Ray Biggs '13 and WKTV Anchor/Oswego graduate Ben Kinne on the call. That telecast will be available locally over-the-air on WKTV 2.1 and on local cable systems. It will also be available online at wktv.com/livestream and on the free WKTV NewsChannel 2 streaming app available for Roku, Amazon Fire, and AppleTV Devices.
 
Once again, you can find the WKTV broadcast by clicking this link: wktv.com/livestream
 
Alternatively, WPNR 90.7 will be streaming the game on the Empire 8 Network and airing the call over WPNR 90.7 FM Radio. You can find the links to those broadcasts down below.
 
Utica vs Oswego Empire 8 Network Stream: https://www.empire8network.com/utica/
Utica vs Oswego WPNR 90.7 FM Radio Call: https://player.listenlive.co/42951
 
You can follow live stats for this week's contest by heading to this link or by clicking the "Live Stats" link on our men's hockey schedule page.
 
2025 NY Sash Teddy Bear Toss Live Stats Link: https://uticapioneers.com/sidearmstats/mhockey/summary
 
Recapping Last Weekend's Utica Thanksgiving Showcase: This past Friday and Saturday, the Pioneers hosted their annual Delta by Marriott Utica Thanksgiving Showcase tournament, welcoming four teams to the Adirondack Bank Center for a weekend of high-level hockey.
 
In the first round, the blue and orange battled UMass Boston, meeting the Beacons for just the second time in program history, and the first since 2016. For the second straight season, the team had an exciting semifinal showdown, defeating the Beacons in overtime by a 5-4 final thanks to Andrew Della Rovere's (Caledon East, Ontario) epic game-winning goal in the extra period. Della Rovere would lead the team with two goals and one assist in the action, cementing his all-tournament team status in just the first game of the bracket. The tumultuous tilt was back and forth throughout, with each team trading pairs of goals to eventually send the game to overtime.
 
In the championship game, an old foe awaited the Pioneers, as the blue and orange met the buff and blue for the first time in over a decade. #8 ranked Hamilton stood between the Pioneers and a second straight Thanksgiving Showcase crown, however, the hometown team got off to a great start, with Hunter Longhi (Collinsville, IL) landing a highlight-reel goal to get the Pioneers up 1-0. The game had a postseason atmosphere from the opening faceoff, with each squad laying hard hits and moving the puck at a rapid pace. It was the Continentals, though, who would eventually battle back from the early deficit to score a 3-1 win and take home the Thanksgiving Showcase Championship.
 
Blue and Orange Archive - The New York Sash Teddy Bear Toss: The Pioneers will now move onto their annual New York Sash Teddy Bear Toss game, with this Saturday's matchup set to be the 21st in the history of the illustrious event. The game has been a staple of Utica hockey for nearly the entire history of the program, and is one of, if not the best, teddy bear toss in all the land, as the entire city of Utica rallies behind the blue and orange to cap off each fall semester.
 
To date, the Pioneers have held 19 Teddy Bear Toss games, with the 20th matchup being an "On the Road" mobile donation drive that occurred in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are the all-time stats for the team in their marquee matchup. Every single matchup since 2011 has been sold out.
 
Teddy Bear Toss History/Stats
 
Record: 15-3-1
OT Wins: 2
Ranked Wins: 1
Shutouts: 4
Longest Win Streak: 8 games (2015-2023)
Goals Scored: 92
Goals Per Game: 4.84
Goals Allowed: 29
Goals Allowed Per Game: 1.53
 
All-Time Matchup History
2024 - #4 Geneseo - Loss (5-2) - Drake Morse (Grand Rapids, MI)
2023 - Stonehill - Win (7-2) - Eric Vitale (Toronto, Ontario)
2022 - #7 Oswego - Win (4-0) - Mic Curran
2021 - King's College - Win (8-0) - Eric Holland
2019 - Morrisville State - Win (4-1) - Dante Zapata
2018 - Chatham - Win (5-0) - Jamie Bucell
2017 - Neumann - Win (9-1) - Josh Haskin
2016 - Morrisville State - Win (3-2 OT) - Kevin Krisits
2015 - Salve Regina - Win (4-1) - Joel Wetmore
2014 - #11 Trinity (CT) - Loss (1-0)
2013 - Salve Regina - Win (5-1) - Ridge Garbutt (2)
2012 - Buffalo State - Win (4-3 OT) - Jon Gaffney
2011 - Salve Regina - Win (12-0) - Ridge Garbutt
2010 - Buffalo State - Win (3-2) - Adam Graff
2009 - Castleton - Tie (4-4) - Tim Coffman (2)
2008 - Western New England - Win (7-1) - Tim Coffman
2007 - Curry College - Loss (3-2) - Aaron Jeffrey
2006 - Hamilton - Win (5-1) - Colin Kingston (2)
2005 - Hamilton - Win (4-2) - Colin Kingston
 
Last season, the Pioneers welcomed new conference foe Geneseo to the Aud in a battle of two giants. For the first time in Teddy Bear Toss history, the matchup featured a battle between two top-5 ranked programs, as the Knights entered ranked 4th in the USCHO poll, while the Pioneers held the #2 ranking. Despite scoring first and outshooting the Knights by nearly 30, the Pioneers fell 5-2 in the 20th annual TBT. Drake Morse (Grand Rapids, MI) netted the Teddy Bear Toss goal, getting his first career TBT tally as he gave the team a 1-0 lead just seven minutes into the game. Geneseo would battle back, though, grabbing two goals of their own in the first period to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission, before scoring three more to grab a win. It was the Pioneers' first Teddy Bear Toss loss in 10 years, snapping an 8-win streak.
 
In 2022, the Pioneers met this year's opponent - Oswego State - in the Lakers' only TBT appearance to date, defeating the SUNYAC side 4-0 to snag a win for the seventh straight season to that point. Much like the upcoming contest, that 2022 matchup featured a ranked battle, with Utica entering at #3 and Oswego entering at #7. Sophomore goaltender Bryan Landsberger (Montreal, Quebec/Nepean Raiders (CCHL)) stopped all 23 Laker shots in the game, securing the fourth shutout in TBT history. Mic Curran netted the titular goal, scoring 14 minutes into the first period with assists by Remy Parker and Lucas Herrmann.
 
In 2016, the Pioneers erased a 2-0 deficit to snatch a 3-2 overtime thriller against Morrisville State. The anxious Aud-goers had to wait until the second period to let the bears fly, as Kevin Krisits scored the teddy bear tally just over eight minutes into the middle frame. A late goal by Shawn Lynch in the third period sent the game to overtime, before Kevin Valenti netted the overtime decider with just over a minute left in the extra period.
 
In 2012, a #10-ranked Utica team had yet another overtime thriller, defeating Buffalo State 4-3 with a last-second goal in the additional frame. Jon Gaffney broke the ice 13 minutes into the opening period, receiving a pass from Louis Educate to get the team ahead 1-0 and put his name into the Pioneer record books. The Bengals, though, would notch two third-period goals to send the game to overtime, where a former TBT goal-scorer would coincidentally grab the game-winner against the same exact team that he scored against two years earlier in the titular contest. Adam Graff, the teddy tally scorer in 2010, would grab the overtime game-winner against Buffalo State, the team's exact same opponent back during that 2010 matchup. Graff would net the decisive goal with a little over a minute remaining in the game, getting the team its third straight TBT victory in a row. 
 
Matchup History - Oswego State - The Pioneers and Lakers have met on 29 occasions, with one of those matchups occurring during the aforementioned Teddy Bear Toss game just three seasons ago. In those games, the Lakers have a slight edge, as they possess a 9-15-5 record against the orange and blue all-time, although the Pioneers have taken three of the last four meetings dating back to 2020. At home, the Pioneers have split with the green and gold, going 6-6-2 against their slightly northern rival. They'll be looking to take an edge in that category during this weekend's contest and continue a great stretch against the Lakers that's seen them outscore the opposition by a 16-9 margin over the past three matchups.
 
Last season, the Pioneers welcomed the Lakers to the Adirondack Bank Center to open up the second half of their season schedule. The orange and blue begin their second-half hailstorm with a 5-3 win, using their new reinforcements to get the better of the eventual SUNYAC Champion Lakers. Eric Vitale (Toronto, Ontario) netted a key double, getting the final two goals before the Pioneers' empty net score to help send the team to victory. Drake Morse (Grand Rapids, MI), Alexander Gullichsen (Turku, Finland),  and former forward Johnny Mulera (Rockville, MD/Salve Regina University (NCAA DIII)) helped the team score five goals against the green and gold for the first time since a six-goal outing in 2013.
 
In 2020, the #7 Pioneers went on the road to Oswego, meeting the #15 Lakers for their third game back from the winter break. Utica jumped out to a 3-0 lead on enemy ice, creating that gap before the midway mark of the matchup. However, Oswego would turn it around, netting three unanswered goals of their own to steal all the momentum and knot the game up at 3 apiece. The score would remain 3-3 until the closing minutes of the third period, when superstar forward Conor Landrigan grabbed his second goal of the game, breaking up the Lakers' comeback bid and giving the Pioneers a 4-3 victory.
 
A Look at the Lakers: The current #4 USCHO ranked Oswego State Lakers have got off to a rapid start to the season after bringing back a majority of their roster from last season's SUNYAC Championship squad. Because of that, the Lakers have started off this year's campaign with a perfect 6-0 record, grabbing some big wins against Geneseo (1-0), Plattsburgh (3-2), and Skidmore (3-1). A battle tested Oswego team is in for the biggest challenge of their season this weekend, though, as in addition to taking on the Pioneers in this weekend's Teddy Bear Toss matchup, the Lakers will also welcome #1 Hobart to their home barn for their own teddy bear toss matchup the night before. With back to back games against #1 Hobart, and the #14 Pioneers, this weekend has been circled on the calendars of many New York hockey fans for months.
 
Last season, the Lakers were 16-9-3, finishing 9-4-1 in the SUNYAC before running the table in the conference tournament to claim a conference championship. The Lakers would head to #7 Trine in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, eventually losing 4-1 over in Angola, Indiana to cap off a solid season.
 
The story surrounding this Laker team last season was their youth, which is reflected in their scoring charts as they returned their five top point-getters from last year's championship campaign. Ryan Burke (11g, 28a), Brandon Cohen (19g, 15a), Matt McQuade (16g, 15a), Travis Baker (7g, 19a), and Colin Vassallo (5g, 20a) all return to the lineup after getting 25+ points just a year earlier. Through six games, Baker leads the team with six points, proving to be a stellar distributor as he's racked up one goal and five assists. Burke ranks second in the points department, having one goal and three assists.
 
The Lakers' top scorer is a returner, but not one who was ranked highly in the scoring charts last season. Josh Simpson scored just three goals in 28 games played last season as a freshman. In his sophomore year, the forward has amassed an equal amount of goals over just a six-game span, ranking as the team's top scorer headed into this weekend with three.
 
McQuade and Cohen have also got out to another great start, with both players having two goals and one assist each.
 
In goal, the Lakers have almost completely split time between a pair of underclassmen goalies in freshman Michael Manzi and sophomore Brandon Milberg. Manzi has exactly five seconds more icetime than his counterpart, with both players manning the net in three games each. Manzi has accrued a goals allowed average of 1.33 in his first three collegiate outings, snagging shots at a .943 rate. On the other hand, McCarthy has an insane goals allowed average of 0.67, stopping shots with extreme precision at a .979 save percentage.
 
One thing of note when talking about goalkeepers is the fact that McCarthy seems to be the Lakers' preferred starter, and with a conference game on Friday against the Hobart Statesmen, it seems likely that the Pioneers will be facing Manzi on Saturday in what will be an extremely raucous atmosphere for the freshman.
 
It will be up to an experienced Pioneer forward group to try and slot away not just one teddy bear toss goal, but a few, in their attempt to head to winter break in style.
 
Following the 21st New York Sash Teddy Bear Toss: The Pioneers will head to winter break after this matchup, with 28 days separating Saturday from the team's next official game against Neumann on January 3rd, 2026. The team will also travel to Detroit on December 30th for an exhibition match against the USA National Under-18 Team. The second half of the 25th anniversary season will officially get back underway on January 3rd and 4th with home games against Neumann and SUNY Canton, respectively. UCHC play will resume with a January 10th battle against Nazareth.
 
Tune in this Saturday as the Pioneers take on Oswego State in the New York Sash Teddy Bear Toss!