ROCHESTER, NY - The #13 Pioneers headed to Rochester on Saturday night with an opportunity to seize control in the race for the UCHC regular season title. A day after defeating mortal rival Nazareth at home for the second time this season, the Pioneers were left needing one more win over their purple-clad opponents in order to jump ahead in the UCHC standings. Saturday's tilt was even more stressful than the previous night's installment of the huge rivalry, with each team not giving up any ground in a tough and gritty fight for glory. In the end, it was the Pioneers who would blink first, with only a single goal proving to be the difference between the two sides as the visitors fell by a 1-0 final to the Golden Flyers.
 
The game was as even as it could possibly be, with both teams recording an equal amount of shot attempts at 23 apiece. Despite the even footing in the shots category, the Golden Flyers did escape with a significant edge in the faceoff statistics.
 
Even power play numbers didn't jump off the scoresheet, with the Pioneers missing out on their only advantage chance but still managing to stuff the Golden Flyers on their two player-up opportunities.
 
In the end, it was a skillful second period score by the Golden Flyers that gave them a 1-0 lead, one which the Pioneers couldn't match as they fell to their UCHC counterparts by that same tally.
 
With the loss, the Pioneers fell to 15-6 on the season, also dropping to 6-2 in UCHC play. They also dropped down to second in the conference due to their earlier overtime win against the Golden Flyers grabbing them less points than they would have gotten with a regulation result. Utica is currently second in the UCHC with 17 points, two behind Nazareth who holds 19 points and the conference lead. Despite the setback, the race is still very much open for the Pioneers to inch back into the UCHC regular season title picture with four conference games remaining.