ROCHESTER, NY - Freshman goaltender Ryan Piros (Hartland, MI/University of Dubuque (NCAA DIII)) has captured his third Empire 8 Goalie of the Week award after some solid starts against a surging Chatham team this past weekend, the conference announced on Monday. The recent transfer picks up his third conference honor in just five possible awards cycles since joining the team at the start of 2025. Piros' hold on the conference goaltender crown has been unprecedented, and the underclassmen just keeps picking up accolades as playoffs draw ever-closer.

Piros kept up his undefeated streak this weekend as the Pioneers' netminder, stumping Chatham in overtime on Friday and then picking up a big win on Saturday afternoon to improve to 8-0-1 in his tenure as the Utica goaltender. The freshman phenom allowed five goals in the pair of contests, with one of those registering as a power play score, to finish with a 2.41 goals allowed average. Piros also finished with a 90.6% save percentage in the series, grabbing 48 saves over the two game set. The Hartland native has started all nine games since his recent transfer, totaling 226 saves at a 93% rate and posting a 1.87 goals allowed average. Those numbers place him quite high on a couple UCHC goalie stat categories, with the Pioneers' netminder placing second in the conference for saves and first in the conference for goals allowed average. 

Piros' Pioneers will be back in action this weekend, taking on Geneseo in a huge UCHC series that may very well decide the eventual regular season champion. The Knights will visit the Adirondack Bank Center on Friday night for a Valentine's Day Dustup which will begin at 7:00 PM.