UTICA, NY - The second seeded, No. 13 Utica University women's hockey team took down the third seeded Manhattanville Valiants in shutout fashion by a score of 3-0 in the semifinal round of the UCHC Tournament on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Pioneers advance to the championship matchup.
 
Three different Pioneers landed inside the goal column including Hailey Modlin (Phoenix, AZ/Boston Shamrocks) with a power play goal on four shots, Madison Novotny (Wesley Chapel, FL/Northwood School) also with a power play goal on four shots and an assist, and Molly Pedone (Trinity, FL/Shattuck-St. Mary's) with a goal on three shots. Jordan Kowalski (Chicopee, MA/Westfield) tallied two assists with 14 wins from the faceoff dot, while Ally Nolan (Westford, MA/Chatham University (NCAA DIII)) was able to dish out an assist as well. Riley Calhoun (New Hartford, NY/Plattsburgh State University (NCAA DIII)) led Utica with six shots but was unable to find the back of the net. Angela Hawthorne (Santa Clara, CA/Meijer) nabbed 13 saves in the shutout victory.
 
The first period would see Utica put the offensive pressure on early, recording six shots within the first five minutes of action. Over seven and a half minutes would elapse in the contest before the Valiants would be able to get a shot off, that would be gobbled up by Hawthorne, who would only see six shots in duration of the opening frame. Neither team would be able to find the back of the net in the first 20 minutes of play, with the Pioneers peppering the Valiants' goaltender 15-6 in the first period.
 
Heading into the second stanza, the Pioneers would once again get the offensive pressure going, with Kaci Ryder (Shrewsbury, MA/Shrewsbury (Lady Flames)) getting a shot within the first 60 seconds of the frame. With six minutes gone, Madison Novotny (Wesley Chapel, FL/Northwood School) would get the Pioneers on the board with a power play goal off the sticks of Kowalski and Nolan to break the scoreless tie. The Pioneers would continue the offensive momentum recording another 12 shots in the frame before Hailey Modlin (Phoenix, AZ/Boston Shamrocks) would find the back of the net courtesy of Kowalski on the power play to push the Pioneer lead to 2-0 late in the second period. Utica would record one final shot of the middle frame before heading to the locker room with a comfortable lead on the Valiants at 2-0.
 
The third period would see lopsided action favoring the Pioneers again, as they would outshoot the Valiants 10-3 in the final 20 minutes of action. Kelsey Elliott (Attleboro, MA/East Coast Wizards) would get the action going with a shot that would be handled by the Manhattanville goalkeeper less than a minute and a half into the final frame. It would be Molly Pedone (Trinity, FL/Shattuck-St. Mary's), though, who would eventually put the game on ice for the Pioneers, finding the back of the net with six minutes to play, putting Utica up 3-0 in the contest. Utica would put another four shots on net throughout the remainder of the frame, coming up empty handed but not allowing Manhattanville to mount any final efforts.  
 
With the win, the Pioneers will advance to the championship matchup against the top seeded Nazareth University Golden Flyers. Puck drop on Saturday, March 8 in Rochester, NY is set for 3pm.