UTICA, NY – This weekend, the Utica University men's ice hockey team offers an exciting prelude to its 26th season of competition with its second exhibition against Skidmore College in as many years. The Pioneers will make their season debut against the Thoroughbreds on Friday, October 23rd at the newly renamed NBT Bank Arena at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.

Follow Along: Fans have a bevy of options to follow the action. Live Stats are available at https://uticapioneers.com/sidearmstats/mhockey/summary. Live Video is once again available free of charge via the Empire 8 Network at https://www.empire8network.com/utica/, and select home games including Friday's contest are also available on local radio at WPNR 90.7 FM. Ray Biggs '13 returns to lead coverage for a sixteenth season, and will be joined by Utica University students throughout the year. 

Tickets: Can be purchased online at https://empirestatetix.evenue.net/, and through the Auditorium Box Office.

In The Polls: The Pioneers open the season sixth in the USCHO Division III Men's Top 15, and fifth in the DIIIHockeyNews Men's Top 15.

Wrapping Up Last Season: The Pioneers wrapped up the season 20-8-1 overall for their sixteenth consecutive winning season, and an eighth straight 20-win season among years where that has been mathematically possible to achieve. The team locked up a tenth straight conference regular season title while compiling a conference record of 13-2-1, and ensured their UCHC regular season dynasty would last for a ninth season. Utica went on to claim the UCHC Tournament Title for a sixth time, defeating SUNY Geneseo 2-1 to advance to the team's fifth straight NCAA Tournament, where they would defeat NESCAC Champion Williams College 3-0 in an NCAA first round game, and ultimately fall in the NCAA quarterfinals to UW-Stout by a 5-1 score. Eight Pioneers were named to the UCHC and Empire 8 All-Conference Teams, highlighted by E8/UCHC Defensive Player of the Year Andrew Della Rovere (Caledon East, Ontario/St. Michael's Catholic), and UCHC Coach of the Year Gary Heenan. Drake Morse (Grand Rapids, MI/East Grand Rapids) was a first team All-UCHC and Empire 8 pick, and defenseman Preston Brighton (Castle Rock, CO/Brighton) joined him on the Empire 8 first team. The first team duo would later pick up DIII Hockey News All-America status. 

Last Year's Outing: Utica led 2-1 in the late stages of the first period, but Skidmore scored five of the next six goals to collect a 6-3 exhibition win at the Aud on October 24th, 2025. The game was closer than indicated, with the Pioneers trailing 4-3 with under two minutes to play thanks to an extra attacker goal from Drake Morse (Grand Rapids, MI/East Grand Rapids), but two empty net goals put the game to bed for the visitors. Morse and Skidmore's Bryce Terry had two goals apiece. Sal Cerrato (St. Louis, MO/Frederick Gunn) had the additional Utica goal, his first, albeit unofficially, in a Pioneer uniform. Frank Murphy (Mississauga, Ontario/) and Kyle Curtin (St. George, Ontario/) split time in net and combined for nineteen saves. 

On The Attack: The Pioneers should return a tremendously potent offense for the 2026-27 season, with fifteen of the top seventeen point-getters back from a squad that averaged 4.38 goals per game. Drake Morse (Grand Rapids, MI/East Grand Rapids) enters his senior season off a team-leading 36 points on 17 points and 19 assists as a junior, all of which were career-highs. The 2026 DIII Hockey News All-American has 89 career points, and is just eleven away from becoming the program's tenth 100-point scorer for a career. Morse is one of nineteen Pioneers in history to average a point a game or better for their career up to this point, among players with at least 25 games played. His goal scoring output tied for the ninth-best season in school history last year. Eric Vitale (Toronto, Ontario/St. Michael Christian) (14-12-26) was fourth on the team in points in 2025-26, and has had twelve or more goals in each of his first three years with the team. His 38 career goals lead the active roster, and rank twelfth all-time. Andrew Della Rovere (Caledon East, Ontario/St. Michael's Catholic) (12-14-26) was terrific over the latter stages of the season after recording 0 points in his first eight games, and also won 66 percent of his faceoffs including a significant career-high 448 draws won. He was named the UCHC Defensive Player of the Year. Senior Aidan Hughes (Mississauga, Ontario/Our Lady of Mount Carmel) rebounded well from a relatively quiet sophomore season, with 25 points matching the career-high he set as a freshman. He set a new personal benchmark with 11 goals. Also at forward, seniors Gabriel Lundberg (Gothenburg, Sweden/Katrinelund) and Alexander Gullichsen (Turku, Finland/Vaaasa Aftis) will both have even larger roles to play after notching 18 point seasons as juniors, and sophomore Stepan Kuznetsov (Yaroslavl, Russia/Wayzata) (6-11-17) could be on the doorstep of something massive after achieving that output in just eighteen games with Utica after a mid-year transfer from Western New England. Also lurking is former UCHC All-Conference pick Nicholas Rogers (Broad Channel, NY/Xavier), who contributed five goals and six assists after a mid-season transfer from UCHC rival Manhattanville, while also achieving the UCHC Tournament MVP after notching the game-winning goal against SUNY Geneseo.

On the Blue Line: The Pioneers will be re-tooling the defensive corps a bit with the graduation of one-year transfers Will Hilfiker (Middletown, NJ/) and Davis Goukler (Cumming, GA/), but return some heavy hitters for the upcoming campaign. DIII Hockey News third team All-American Preston Brighton (Castle Rock, CO/Brighton) will be the expected workhorse and has grown into his role substantially at both ends of the ice. Brighton, an Empire 8 first team selection, had 18 points on three goals and 15 assists last season, finished the year at +15, and was second on the team in blocked shots with 37. The latter figure included a season-high seven blocks in the team's NCAA first round win over Williams College. Sophomore Sal Cerrato (St. Louis, MO/Frederick Gunn) was named to the UCHC All-Rookie team after a twenty point season with two goals and eighteen assists. Cerrato appeared in all 29 games, and had one of the most offensively productive seasons by a rookie defenseman in school history. Alex German (Colorado Springs, CO/Village) played some of his best games down the stretch and brought a physical brand of play to the lineup. His +18 rating was tops among defensemen, and he also added twelve points. He was picked to the UCHC All-Tournament team. Aydin Parekh (Nobleton, ON/Blyth Academy) enters his senior season as a two-time all-conference selection, including a second team slot a season ago. He had fourteen points across all 29 games, and added 32 blocked shots. Junior Anthony Bax (Parkhill, Ontario/North Middlesex) divided his time between defense and forward as a sophomore, and is a +35 across 58 games played in his Utica career. Isaac Barrett (Zionsville, IN/Options Academy) returns for a second season after appearing in just two regular season games, and newcomer Luke Chappelle (Trenton, MI/Trenton) rounds out the group.  

Between The Pipes: The hunt is on among three brand new candidates to secure the starting goaltender job to open the campaign, and this week's game could serve as a major component of the audition. Senior Mitchell Day (Kirkwood, MO/Kirkwood) transfers in from Division I Niagara, where he has made thirteen appearances in three years for the Purple Eagles. He enjoyed his best statistical season as a junior with a 1-0-1 record and a .914 save percentage across five appearances, and started both games in a weekend split against AHA rival Canisius in late January. The Pioneers also landed a duo of highly regarded freshman netminders. Michael Modelski (New Boston, MI/Connections Academy) was among the top of a list of 2005 uncommitted goaltenders available when he decided on Utica. He notched a save percentage of .939 with NAHL El Paso in his final Junior A season, a number that led the league among eligible netminders, and he did it against the challenging NAHL South division where he was an All-Star. Local product Waylon Esche (Utica, NY/Westmoreland) returns home after winning the United States Hockey League's Clark Cup with the Sioux Falls Stampede, and turned aside 88 percent of shots last season. He also played with the NAHL's Corpus Christi IceRays, where he was a teammate of Kuznetsov, in the BCHL, and with the hometown Utica Junior Comets. 

What's Else is New: Alongside Day, Modelski, and Esche in net, the Pioneers will have seven other newcomers on the roster to start the season, six of whom are NAHL graduates. Transfer forward Paul Minnehan (Cypress, CA/Pacifica) chimes in from Division I Sacred Heart after logging three goals and six points across 26 games for one of the other teams named "Pioneers" in College Hockey. He previously played three seasons in the NAHL and one season for the USHL's Des Moines Buccaneers. NAHL South All-Star forward Caden Ghiossi (San Jose, CA/Bellarmine) steps into the college ranks after two seasons with the Odessa Jackalopes. In his final season, he had 31 goals and 30 assists for 61 total points, and finished in the top ten league-wide in goal scoring. Forward Ryan Bunting (West Deptford, NJ/Bishop Kearney) played in part or all of four seasons with the NAHL's Philadelphia Rebels, and finished last season with nineteen points in just 29 games. In 59 games the year prior, Bunting had 20 goals and 20 assists across 59 games. He also played two highly productive seasons for the Bishop Kearney Selects program out of Rochester. Evan Dantas (Brampton, ON/Cardinal Ambrozic Catholic) closed out his junior career with 55 points across two NAHL East Division teams: Elmira and Danbury. He was the eighth overall pick in the 2025 NAHL Entry Draft. Jakub Galnor (Prerov, Czechia) had 19 goals and 32 assists in 56 games during his lone full NAHL season with the Oklahoma Warriors. The forward from Czechia has significant international pedigree with appearances for the nation's junior national teams across the 16u, 17u, and 18u levels, including six games played at the IIHF 17u World Championship. The lone non-NAHL product in the skater class is Christopher Clarke (Ottawa, Ontario/All Saints), who averaged a point a game for the CCHL's Pembroke Lumber Kings. On defense, Luke Chappelle (Trenton, MI/Trenton) joins a well-stocked group after playing a total of 68 regular season games with the NAHL's Maine Nordiques across the 23-24 and 24-25 seasons. He had an impressive 27 points in just 32 games played in the 2024-25 season, but was unable to play this past season.

Special Teams Tribulations: The Pioneers will be seeking better performances on special teams to bolster their efforts in the 2026-27 season. Utica finished the season thirteenth in the nation on the power play at a solid 25.7 percent from a unit that lost the personnel that scored 21 of the team's 25 man advantage goals two years ago. Last season, the Pioneers were 29-of-113, and they return players that scored 16 of those 29 goals. Morse and Vitale set the pace among returners with five goals each. The Pioneers have operated at 25 percent or better with the extra man in five of the last six years. Utica was also fourteenth nationally in power play attempts with 113. On the penalty kill, the Pioneers had some early season struggles against a difficult schedule, but rallied to a 45th place ranking by season's end at 81.5 percent. Over the first four games of the season, the Pioneers allowed six power play goals in four games in a pair of weekend sets against Adrian and Hobart, and two multi-goal outings by the Statesmen sunk the Pioneers in both of those games. Utica did not allow multiple power play goals in any contest across its remaining 25 games.

Happy Trails To You: Although mitigated by a massive returning group, the Pioneers do have some turnover within the roster. John Gutt (Middletown, NJ/), Davis Goukler (Cumming, GA/), Will Hilfiker (Middletown, NJ/), Alex Gomez (Parker, CO/), Chris Carroll (Islip, NY/), Kyle Curtin (St. George, Ontario/), and Avery Sturtz (Cedar Rapids, IA/) have all graduated.

About Skidmore: The Thoroughbreds went 15-10-2 last season and reached the SUNYAC semifinals after posting an 11-6-1 ledger in league play. With their top seven scorers and goaltender Tommy Aitken all returning, there are very high hopes for a big year in Saratoga Springs. Junior Coleman Jenkins (5-15-20) led the way in overall points last season, and the veteran playmaker had teammates Shane Baker (10-9-19) and Cooper Rice (11-6-17) filling the net throughout the campaign. Rice was second on the squad with three power play goals out of his team's fifteen last season. Forward Ryan Stratton (7-8-15), a West Genesee product, showcased explosive potential down the stretch with multiple three-point outings and a team-best three game-winning goals. He was also a +10 player to rank third on the team. Former Stevenson netminder Tommy Aitken (9-4-2, 2.55, .916) returns as the primary starter in goal. The Thoroughbreds are coached by Waterville, NY native Rob Hutchison, who played his high school hockey for the now-defunct program at Hamilton Central.

This Weekend's Sponsor: This weekend's contest is the Pioneers' Breast Cancer Awareness Game, and is sponsored by the Mastrovito Family Auto Group. Frank Mastrovito and the Mastrovito Auto Group are proud to support the Utica University Pioneers Men's Ice Hockey Team and our joint mission to raise Breast Cancer Awareness. Please help us paint the arena pink on Friday as we donate $1,000 for every goal scored by #21 Eric Vitale (Toronto, Ontario/St. Michael Christian).  Enjoy the game, remember to #MakeYourMovetoMastrovito, and GO PIONEERS!

Up Next: The Pioneers will renew two key non-conference rivalries to start the season. The Pioneers will visit #8 Adrian College on October 30th and 31st. The home opener will be Thursday, November 5th as Utica meets #2 Hobart, and the Pioneers and Statesmen will complete a home-and-home on Saturday, November 7th in Geneva. 

Check out the entire Utica men's hockey schedule by heading to the following link: 2026-2027 Utica Men's Hockey Schedule