UTICA, NY - Utica University's women's hockey team is set to begin its postseason push by hosting #6-seeded Manhattanville University in the First Round of UCHC Championship Tournament Play. The #3-seeded Pioneers split the regular season series with the Valiants over Valentine's Day weekend. Action is set to begin on Wednesday, February 5th, with a 4:00 pm puck drop in the Adirondack Bank Center.

Follow Along: The video stream for all Utica home games is available HERE. The live stats for the contest are available HERE.

Last Road Trip: Utica ended its regular season with a road series sweep of Chatham University. In the first of two games, the Pioneers turned in two second-period strikes to win the game 2-0. Freshman Brooklyn Higgins (Gilbert, AZ/) continued to find the scoresheet in a recent hot stretch, scoring 2:15 into the middle frame to take the lead, before Elliana Lasher (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) netted a power play score under six minutes later. Freshman goaltender Katie Sheahan (Oak Lawn, IL) made 18 saves on the night, earning her second-straight shutout and third of the season.

The following day, the Pioneers scored in each period to take a 3-1 victory over the Cougars. Angelina Garganese (Winter Springs, FL) pocketed a man-advantage goal in the final 30 seconds of the first period to take an early lead. After Chatham evened the score nearly halfway into the second period, a mid-second period goal by Dylan DiGrazia (Scottsdale, AZ/) and a late-third period goal by Kelsey Elliott (Attleboro, MA/) paved the way for Utica to win their third straight, and fifth of the last six games. For her play in the two games, Sheahan was named the UCHC's Rookie of the Week, marking the second straight week she has earned the honors, and the third straight that a Utica player has won it. Defenders Maya Jerome (Belleville, MI/) and Veronica Houk (Richboro, PA) led the team in points, as both players recorded two assists.

Valentine's Vs. The Valiants: Just ahead of their series with Chatham, the Pioneers played Manhattanville in two home games on February 13th and 14th. In game one, Manhattanville scored two goals in a 19-second span just a handful of minutes into the second period. Samantha Dobrzynski (Garnet Valley, PA/) scored a power play goal later in the same frame, but the score held 2-1 for the visitors until the final horn. The following day, neither team could break the 0-0 tie until Garganese scored on a power-play goal 3:18 into the third period. Her tally stood as the only goal of the game. Sheahan made her first appearance in over a month in the second game against the Valiants, making 19 saves, 11 in the final frame, in her return to action.

The Hot Stretch: Several weeks ago, Utica women's hockey found itself in the midst of the program's longest winless streak, which ended after 11 games. The very last game in that span, a January 23rd 2-1 loss to Albertus Magnus, seemed to mark a change in the Pioneers' season. In the 10 games from January 23rd to now, all within the UCHC, Utica has played to a 6-4-0 record. Of those four losses, two came in 3-1 games to currently-ranked #4 Nazareth University. The other two, both 2-1 losses, came to Albertus Magnus and Manhattanville. 

Over the same span, the orange and blue have outscored their opponents 19-13, averaging 33.0 shots per game, while allowing just 24.8. Utica's penalty kill efficiency has been in high order as well, as the Pioneers have killed 32 of 34 power plays during that time, a 94.1% efficiency. Faceoff wins have been another staple of Utica's game recently, winning 59.4% of their draws (324/545). Leading the charge at the dot has been the first-year center Dobrzynski, who has won 142 of those faceoffs at a 63.4% win rate. Dobrzynski has reached 20 faceoff wins in three separate games this season, marking the sixth, seventh, and eighth times any player has done so in program history since faceoff tracking began in 2015-16. Two of those three games came in the last 10 games (Jan. 23 at Albertus Magnus & Feb. 21 at Chatham), with the third game coming in the game just before the stretch (Jan. 14 vs Worcester State).

Making Manhattanville: The #6-seeded Valiants finished 5-19-1 overall and 5-9-0 in the UCHC during the 2025-26 season. Their five wins came in back-to-back 2-1 road wins over Chatham, wins by scores of 6-0 and 8-0 over Hilbert College on home ice, and a 2-1 victory over Utica as part of a split series hosted by the orange and blue. In the two most recent games after their matchups with the Pioneers, the Valiants hosted Elmira College, falling by scores of 3-0 and 7-0.

Manhattanville has scored an average of just 1.36 goals per game over the season. Senior Catrina Chinetti leads the team with six goals, joining Colby Cantor (four) and Jada Mackinnon (four) as the only players to net more than three. Cantor has additionally assisted on six goals, joining junior defender Danika Aubin (2g, 8a) for the team lead with 10 points. Aubin's eight assists lead the team, with Emilija Tučiūtė's six joining Aubin and Cantor as the only Valiants with more than five. Mackinnon (4g, 5a), Molly Sances (2g, 5a), Harper Weisbeck (2g, 3a), and Jayden Wilder (0g, 4a) are the only remaining players with four or more points over the season. Sophomore Olivia Cimorelli has held firm control of Manhattanville's top goalie slot, playing to a .925 save percentage and a 2.42 goals allowed average across 1436:04 of play.

UCHC Tournament Format: The UCHC Championship Tournament begins on Wednesday, February 25th, when the #3-seeded Pioneers host #6-seeded Manhattanville, alongside #4-seed Albertus Magnus hosting #5-seeded St. John Fisher. #1-seeded Nazareth and #2-seeded Elmira have byes in the first round and will host the winning teams of Round One in the Semifinal Round. Due to Utica sitting at the three seed, the Pioneers would already be locked in to a matchup with Elmira in the event they advance past Manhattanville in the first round. If Utica can win both games against Manhattanville and Elmira, it would put them in a position to either travel to Nazareth or host the lower remaining seed in the Championship Game.

Up Next: Utica women's hockey is now in "win or go home" mode, as a defeat in any contest will conclude their season. With a win against the Valiants, the Pioneers would be slated for a Semifinal Round matchup at Elmira College at 3:00 pm on Saturday, February 28th. Be sure to follow Utica Athletics for the most up-to-date postseason information as it becomes available!