PITTSBURGH, PA - Utica University's women's hockey team wrapped up its 2025-26 regular season slate with a road trip to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to take on Chatham University in a two-game set. The Pioneers completed the sweep, winning the second game of the series 3-1 to take their third straight win and fifth in the last six games. Utica has already clinched a postseason berth and will now await the results of other UCHC games to lock in its seeding for the tournament.

Eight separate Pioneers ended the game with a point, with none of them tallying a second. Utica's goal scoring was split between Angelina Garganese (Winter Springs, FL), Dylan DiGrazia (Scottsdale, AZ/), and Kelsey Elliott (Attleboro, MA/). Freshman Camryn Behonick (Vestal, NY/) was the lone non-defender with an assist, joining Tess Barrett (Tewksbury, MA/St. Mark's), Veronica Houk (Richboro, PA), Nora Pollestad (Stavanger, Norway/), and Maya Jerome (Belleville, MI/) with one. The orange and blue outshot the Cougars 42-15, led by Elliott with eight, and freshman forward Samantha Dobrzynski (Garnet Valley, PA/) with four. Dobrzynski once again showed excellence at the faceoff dot, winning 20 of 28 draws. This marks the third time this season she has reached the value, and the eighth time any Pioneer has done so since faceoff tracking began in 2015-16. First-year netminder Katie Sheahan (Oak Lawn, IL) pulled her third consecutive start, saving all but one of the 15 shots she faced.

Chatham scored just once in the game, with no assist on the play. Klara Miuller scored the only tally for the home team, her 15th of the season. Miuller far and away led Chatham's shot tally, taking six of the team's 15 shots. Her teammates, Yana Samoulidis and Clarissa Hayes, were the final Cougars with multiple shots on goal. Ella Stearns-Sheffer led the home squad with five blocked shots, followed by Lily Schmear with three. Samantha Brophy played between the pipes for Chatham, making 39 saves in the game.

The Pioneers opened the scoring in the final minute of the first period. After killing the final nine seconds of a penalty kill that ended with 4-on-4 hockey, Utica went to the power play with 1:01 remaining in the opening 20 minutes. After an earlier save in which Utica picked up the rebound, the Pioneers capitalized on a structured attack, with Garganese scoring her third of the season with just 30.9 remaining in the first. Houk and Barrett added assists on the score, their ninth and fourth of the year, respectively.

The Cougars responded in the next period, evening the score at 1-1 at 9:05 of the second frame on Miuller's unassisted goal. DiGrazia, a freshman, responded for the Pioneers 4:10 later with the game-winning goal, her first of the season. Pollestad added an assist on the goal, bringing her to a 2-8-10 statline this season. Elliott netted the final goal of the game with just 2:52 remaining to help solidify Utica's lead. Behonick and Jerome were credited with assists on the play, their second and seventh, respectively.

Utica has already clinched a UCHC Tournament Berth, though it has not yet locked in its seed. Be sure to check our website and social media feed for the most up-to-date information on postseason contests.