UTICA, NY - The #2 ranked Pioneers have a huge weekend ahead of them when they match up with the #4 SUNY Geneseo Knights in a two-game slate that may very well decide the fate of the UCHC Regular Season Championship and the potential home site of this year's UCHC Tournament Final. The opening contest of this weekend's conference clash will take place on Friday, February 14th (Valentine's Day) at 7:00 inside the Adirondack Bank Center. The two New York mainstays will then move to the Genesee Valley for Saturday's series finale as they conclude their regular season meetings. Saturday's matchup will begin at 7:00 inside the Ira S. Wilson Ice Arena and will be the last of four regular season bouts between the Pioneers and the Knights. For the second time this season, this matchup of the UCHC's top sides will be one of the most anticipated meetings in all of Division III, with both teams entering the feud with a top-4 USCHO ranking once again.
 
 
How to Watch The UCHC Series vs Geneseo: You can watch this weekend's matchups by heading to the links below or by clicking the "Watch" link under each contest on our men's hockey schedule page.
Stream link for Friday's game at Utica: https://www.empire8network.com/utica/
Stream link for Saturday's game at Geneseo: https://www.empire8network.com/geneseo/
 
Keep Up With Live Stats: You can follow along with live statistics for the games by heading to the "Live Stats" tab under the matchups in the Men's Ice Hockey schedule section of our athletics website. You can also follow the links below to view live statistics for this weekend's two-game slate.
Live Stat link for Friday's game at Utica: https://uticapioneers.com/sidearmstats/mhockey/summary
Live Stat link for Saturday's game at Geneseo: https://geneseoknights.com/sidearmstats/mhockey/summary
 
Three's the Charm: Ryan Piros (Hartland, MI/University of Dubuque (NCAA DIII)) has done it again. The Pioneers' netminding newcomer has seized his third Empire 8 Goalie of the Week award after a solid weekend against a surgeon Chatham side. The Cougars presented a tough challenge for the youngster, who was tasked with slowing down a unit that put seven goals on the board against Geneseo a few weeks prior. Piros was up for the challenge though, and stood his ground in enemy territory, protecting the pipes with great precision in the Pioneers' most chippy series of the campaign up to this point. He managed to keep up his undefeated streak, stumping Chatham in overtime 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 finished with a 90.6% save percentage in the series, grabbing 48 saves over the two game set. His Empire 8 Award was the third such accolade in only five possible awards cycles, a rapid rise since joining the squad after the winter break. Piros' marks since his Pioneer debut have been massive as well, with the new goaltender allowing just 17 goals in nine games since his first start against Oswego to begin 2025. Those numbers are good for a 1.87 goals allowed average, and to top it all off the super stopper has nabbed 226 saves at a 93% clip. All this production has led him to achieving the aforementioned 8-0-1 record. Piros has definitely been one of the Pioneers more outstanding players, but his form is very comparable to another Utican who has been playing well as of late…
 
Morse Minute: Forward Drake Morse (Grand Rapids, MI/Shreveport Mudbugs (NAHL)) has been unconscious since the flipping of the calendars to 2025, slotting in as the Pioneers' premier point-getter during their recent run in the new year. Since 2025 began, Morse leads the team with 16 points, getting those marks thanks to an even eight goals and eight assists. The Michigan man has converted two power play opportunities and also notched two game winners during his eight-goal stretch. He also grabbed his first career hat trick in a massive 5-4 win over Nazareth to help the team keep pace in the race for first place in the UCHC. Morse has been unstoppable in his own right, but has also elevated the play of his line-mates with his superior run of form. Since 2025 began, Morse leads the team in +/-, posting a +13 to really hammer home how effective he's been for the Pioneers. The stellar sophomore is just one among a class of strong second years who've been providing the Pioneers with some excellent shifts throughout the course of the season. With the duo of Michigan natives, Piros and Morse, along with the other underclassmen,  Eric Vitale (Toronto, ON/Shreveport Mudbugs (NAHL)), Aydin Parekh (Nobleton, ON/Georgetown Raiders (OJHL)), Anthony Cafarelli (Middleton, MA/Oklahoma Warriors (NAHL)) to name a few, the Pioneer youth is picking up speed at a crazy pace, and could provide the team with sustained success for years to come.
 
The Final Stretch: The Pioneers slipped a little bit in this week's UCHC outlook, with the shootout result in the series-opener vs Chatham costing them a couple key points. Despite this minor setback, the team is still on level terms with this week's opponent, Geneseo, as the two teams prepare to engage in a seismic series. The Knights currently hold a tiebreaker over the Pioneers thanks to their victory over the orange and blue back in December. Even so, with the series this weekend and another weekend after that remaining in UCHC play, the culmination of the conference regular season is shaping up to be one of the legendary variety. Here is where things sit with two weeks left in the regular season:
 
1: Geneseo | 42 points | 18-2-1 (14-1-1 UCHC)
2: Utica | 42 points | 17-2-2 (13-1-2 UCHC)
3: Manhattanville | 22 points | 8-12-1 (7-8-1 UCHC)
4: Chatham | 19 points | 7-12-2 (6-8-2 UCHC)
5: Nazareth | 14 points | 6-13-2 (2-12-2 UCHC)
6: Brockport | 5 points | 4-15-2 (2-14-0 UCHC)
 
The Pioneers and Knights will both have byes in the first round of the UCHC Tournament.
 
Utica dropped a few points at Chatham last weekend due to a shootout result, while the Knights swept Brockport in their two game series. This creates the crucial tie that can be seen atop the UCHC table.
 
In the third UCHC series of last weekend, Manhattanville and Nazareth faced off in a series that was vital for either teams' hopes of hosting a first round contest in the upcoming UCHC Tournament. The Valiants took the first venture by a 3-2 score at home, before defeating the Golden Flyers the following day, albeit in overtime, on the road by a 4-3 final. These two wins put Manhattanville in prime position to host a first round game, sending the Valiants up to the #3 spot while Nazareth fell farther out of the hosting picture.
 
Each team has four games left before the UCHC regular season draws to a close, with each side participating in a two-game series over the next two weeks. After that, the UCHC Tournament will get underway.
 
In the Polls: Even with the overtime setback, things remained mostly the same for the Pioneers in the new polls this week.
 
Utica remained #2 in the USCHO poll this week almost assuredly due to the #3 team, Aurora, also suffering an overtime setback. Although the Pioneers did fall one spot in the DIII Hockey News poll, seeing Aurora switch spots with them. Even so, the top three remained intact, with Hobart, Utica, and Aurora still present at the top of the polls.
 
The Pioneers' conference rival Geneseo remained at #4 in both of this week's polls, once again setting up a high-profile meeting between the pair of top four teams. The Knights remained at the four spot after defeating UCHC opponent Brockport in their weekend series.
 
There weren't many other major shifts in the rankings this week, although the Pioneers' former opponent University of New England hopped into the top 10 in this week's USCHO poll, coming in at #8. Adrian remained set at #12 while Oswego received votes in both polls and Stevenson received votes in the USCHO poll.
 
It may also be worth mentioning that the Pioneers' next door neighbor continued their streak of poll appearances, with Hamilton continuing to be ranked within the top 10 of the USCHO poll. These two sides haven't met since 2014, but could be in for an NCAA clash depending on what happens over the next few weeks.
 
DIII Hockey News has been publishing a weekly bracket forecast for both the Men's and Women's NCAA Tournament brackets over the past few months. Recently, the Pioneers have been slated to play the winner of University of New England and Hamilton in the projected bracket, however the Pioneers fell out of the second bye in this week's projection and are slated to face Plymouth State in DIII Hockey News' fake scenario.
 
Here are the complete rankings this week:
 

Rank	USCHO	DIII Hockey News
1	Hobart (17)	Hobart (17)
2	Utica	Aurora (3)
3	Aurora (3)	Utica
4	Geneseo	Geneseo
5	Curry	Curry
6	St. Norbert	St. Norbert
7	Trine	UW-Superior
8	U New England	Trine
9	Hamilton	UW-Stevens Point
10	UW-Stevens Point	U New England
11	UW-Superior	Hamilton
12	Adrian	Adrian
13	Trinity (CT)	Trinity (CT)
14	Cortland	Cortland
15	Endicott	Endicott
RV	Plymouth State (12)	Plymouth State (8)
RV	Colby (5)	Oswego (4)
RV	Gustavus Adolphus (2)	—
RV	Bethel (1)	—
RV	Oswego (1)	—
RV	Stevenson (1)	—

 
 
 
Gearing up for Geneseo: The Geneseo Knights have been keeping pace with the Pioneers atop the UCHC standings over the past couple weeks, initially falling below the orange and blue due to some overtime results, but climbing back to the top over their recent string of games. The Knights entered 2025 with a spotless 10-0-1 record, getting all the way up to the #2 ranking in the USCHO and DIII Hockey News polls. Despite their scorching start, the Knights stumbled out of the gate in the new year, taking their first loss of the season in a 2-6 drubbing against Elmira. Since then, their only setback has been an insane 7-6 overtime loss against Chatham, although they've been brought to the brink a couple of times, going to overtime against Manhattanville and Nazareth in recent weeks. The Knights enter this weekend's series with an 18-2-1 record and a 14-1-1 record in UCHC play.
 
Earlier this year, the Pioneers and Knights met in each team's final couple of games before winter break. During that series, the Pioneers came away with a shootout win in game one before falling 5-2 in the second game during last year's New York Sash Teddy Bear Toss. The player who caused the most problems for the Pioneers was absolutely Geneseo goaltender Adam Harris, who stood pat in net, making 77 saves at a 96.3% rate and only allowing three goals in two games against one of the best offenses in all of Division III. Harris posted a 1.44 goals allowed average over the pair of matchups, and even managed to rebound after allowing Morse to slot home the Teddy Bear Toss goal for the opening score in their December 7th meeting.
 
Harris, despite his outstanding outings against the Pioneers, hasn't been the Knights main goaltender as of late though, with Jacob Torgner shouldering that responsibility by starting six of the last nine games for the Knights. Torgner and Harris have started every game for the Knights, with the two goalkeepers alternating starts early in the season until recently when it's been Torgner's show. Torgner has 10 starts and Harris has 12, although the former has a slight advantage in both goals allowed average and save percentage over his counterpart. Torgner has posted a 2.11 goals allowed average and 92% save percentage this season, while Harris sports a 2.59 goals allowed average and a 91.3% save percentage. It remains to be seen who the Knights will employ this weekend, as although Torgner has had better form as of late, it's hard to deny the impact that Harris had on the earlier series against the Pioneers.
 
As for the skaters, the Knights have four, 20-point players among their ranks, with Captain Peter Morgan leading the way at 24 points (nine goals, 15 assists). Also with Morgan among the 20-point players are Filip Wiberg (23 points, 11 goals, 12 assists), Luke Panchisin (23 points, seven goals, 16 assists), and Zach Purcell (20 points, 12 goals, eight assists). The Knights' point production doesn't end though, with the Pioneers' Western counterpart having seven more double digit point getters. The upcoming clash against the Pioneers' couldn't be set up any better, as both teams will have 270 total points entering the series (Geneseo - 100 goals, 170 assists, Utica - 92 goals, 178 assists)
 
After Completing the Season Series Against Geneseo: The Pioneers will head for their final regular season series next weekend as they face Manhattanville on the last weekend of UCHC play. Utica will look to finish the season in strong fashion against the Valiants and will hopefully keep their momentum up heading into the UCHC postseason which begins the following week. The Pioneers will welcome the Purchase-based program to the Adirondack Bank Center on Friday, February 21st before heading to the Playland Ice Casino the very next day for the final regular season matchup of the 2024-2025 campaign. Both games will begin at 7:00 PM.
 
Tune in this weekend as the Pioneers go against Geneseo!