ROCHESTER, NY - The run continued on Saturday night for the #10-ranked Utica University men's hockey team, as they flexed their defensive muscle in a big 4-0 win over St. John Fisher to secure a series sweep. The Pioneers managed to stay scorching hot on offense, but saw a stellar outing from their rookie goaltender Frank Murphy (Mississauga, Ontario), helping the team achieve its third shutout of the season. 

The team saw the continuation of many different streaks with Saturday's victory, with the most important being the extension of a recent run of wins that dates back to the Teddy Bear Toss matchup against Oswego. Since defeating the Lakers 5-3 in early December, the Pioneers have rattled off nine straight wins, improving their record to 14-5 and extending their undefeated run in league play to 10-0 in the UCHC. 

Many different point streaks continued in the series clincher, as Stepan Kuznetsov (Yaroslavl, Russia), John Gutt (Middletown, NJ), and Nick Ahern (Chicago, IL) all kept gathering points, even combining to net the fourth and final goal of the night. Kuznetsov and Ahern both moved their point streak to eight games, with each skater having contributed to one goal in each game since the turn of the new year. Gutt also moved his personal point streak to seven games.

The visitors outshot St. John Fisher by a 32-20 margin, also grabbing 31 of a possible 54 faceoff opportunities. Andrew Della Rovere (Caledon East, Ontario) continued to rack up wins in the circle, grabbing 16 of his 23 draws. The orange and blue also had their power play on display, grabbing two man-up goals in five chances. The Pioneers would strike in the first, before hunkering down on defense and cementing the series sweep thanks to a big three-goal third period. 

Three Stars:

First Star - Frank Murphy (Mississauga, Ontario): Despite all the sustained streaks, the hottest hand in Saturday's showdown wasn't in the open ice, but rather in net, as Pioneer goaltender Frank Murphy (Mississauga, Ontario) notched a 20-save shutout, picking up his fifth win of the season, fourth since the turn of the new year, and third straight victory for a surging orange and blue squad. The rookie goalie helped shut down two opposing power play opportunities in the contest, lowering his goals allowed average to 1.51 and boosting his save percentage to .930. Murphy allowed just one goal in 120 minutes of ice time this weekend and hasn't allowed more than one goal since November during his collegiate debut. 

Second Star - Drake Morse (Grand Rapids, MI): Morse and fellow captain Preston Brighton (Castle Rock, CO) displayed their veteran disposition on Saturday night, with both players slotting in as the most effective skaters in the contest. Morse bagged another multi-point night, grabbing yet another goal and assist in the game to help power the Pioneer offense. The junior forward broke the ice with a power play goal in the first period, and then assisted on the second goal of the game to make his mark on the team's first-ever series sweep of a first-year Fisher program.

Third Star - Preston Brighton (Castle Rock, CO): Brighton was also dominant in the game, grabbing a goal and an assist while also recording two blocks and posting a team-high +2. Brighton netted the third goal of the game and assisted on the second goal alongside Morse. Brighton pushed his season totals to three goals, seven assists, and 10 points in his first season sporting the C.

Della Rovere tied Morse and Brighton with a goal and assist of his own in the matchup. Ahern grabbed the fourth and final goal of the game, using his pinpoint shooting to beat the Fisher netminder glove side. 

Sal Cerrato (St. Louis, MO), Alexander Gullichsen (Turku, Finland), Gutt, and Kuznetsov rounded out the point-getters, with each player tallying an assist. 

The Pioneers will now look towards another new conference foe, as the team takes on Elmira next weekend in a home-and-home. Game one of the two-game set will take place down at the Murray Athletic Center in Elmira on Friday night at 7:00 PM. The team will return to Utica the following day to face the Soaring Eagles at the Nexus Center. More information about that matchup will be released next week.