UTICA, NY - For the 25th time, the college hockey postseason has arrived in the Mohawk Valley.
 
The UCHC Regular Season Champion Pioneers will take center stage this Saturday, welcoming the number four-seeded Nazareth Golden Flyers for a UCHC Semifinal matchup. These two teams will renew their postseason rivalry for the first time since two seasons ago, when the Pioneers defeated the Rochester-based side 3-0 in a first-round matchup. Despite sweeping the regular season series, the Pioneers will need a stellar performance to slow down this Nazareth team, which will be riding high after a 4-3 double overtime win against Albertus Magnus in the UCHC Tournament First Round. Get ready for this Saturday's semifinal showdown by checking out all the information below!
 
This Weekend's Action: The top-seeded Pioneers will welcome the #4-seeded Nazareth Golden Flyers to the Adirondack Bank Center this Saturday night for the UCHC Semifinals. The game is slated for a 7:00 PM start. Should the Pioneers win, they will host the UCHC Championship the following Saturday at a time to be determined. In terms of the Pioneers' NCAA hopes, this is a must-win matchup for the team, as they need a boost to rise up the NPI charts. There is more information on the Pioneers' NPI standings and outlook below!
 
Check out all the information about this weekend's contest!
 
Looking for a Ticket? You can grab your ticket for this semifinal matchup by heading to the following link: https://empirestatetix.evenue.net/event/UU26/0213
 
General admission is $12. College students can gain free entry by presenting a college ID at the door.
 
Stream: You can stream this weekend's matchup by heading to the following link: https://www.empire8network.com/utica/
 
Live Stats: Interested spectators can follow along with live statistics by clicking the "live stats" tab on our men's hockey schedule page, or by heading to this link: https://uticapioneers.com/sidearmstats/mhockey/summary
 
Recapping the Regular Season Finale vs Chatham:
 
This past weekend, the Pioneers faced a familiar UCHC rival, the Chatham University Cougars. During the two-game set, the Pioneers tied with Chatham in the first bout by a 3-3 final, before defeating them 2-0 in the penalty shootout. The extra point clinched the Pioneers' 10th straight regular-season conference championship. The Pioneer offense would come to play the next day, beating the Cougars by a score of 10-3 to move on to the postseason with massive momentum on their side.
 
In game one, the orange and blue started strong, leading 2-1 after the first period. However, the game would head to overtime after Chatham tied it up at 3-apiece with 2:22 left in the third period. The Pioneers would win in a penalty shootout after scores from Nick Ahern (Chicago, IL) and Aydin Parekh (Nobleton, ON), along with two game-sealing saves from Kyle Curtin (St. George, Ontario). Ultimately, the extra point from the shootout victory, along with a stunning regulation win for Brockport over Geneseo, would see the Pioneers capture their 10th consecutive conference regular-season championship.
 
The second meeting started off slowly with the Pioneers leading 1-0 after the first period. The Pioneer offense would then go on a scoring frenzy, netting four straight goals to give them a 5-0 lead with 3:51 left in the second period. The game would finish with a final score of 10-3 in Utica's favor. The captain, Drake Morse (Grand Rapids, MI), led the way with four goals and one assist, becoming the 10th player in program history to have four goals in one game. Because of this impressive outing, Morse captured a conference double, being named player of the week for both the Empire 8 and UCHC.
 
The Pioneers grabbed their 13th conference win, clinching the UCHC title and giving them the chance to host the UCHC playoffs for a tenth consecutive season. The Pioneers received a first-round bye and now host UCHC rival Nazareth University on Saturday at 7:00 PM down at the Adirondack Bank Center.

Below is a list of each of the Pioneers' weekly award winners this season, capped off by Morse's accolades from this past weekend.
 
John Gutt (Middletown, NJ) | Men's Hockey - UCHC Co-Player of the Week - November 17th
John Gutt (Middletown, NJ) | Men's Hockey - Empire 8 Co-Player of the Week - November 17th
Kyle Curtin (St. George, Ontario) | Men's Hockey - Empire 8 Goaltender of the Week - November 24th
Kyle Curtin (St. George, Ontario) | Men's Hockey - UCHC Goaltender of the Week - November 24th
Sal Cerrato (St. Louis, MO) | Men's Hockey - Empire 8 Player of the Week - January 5th
Sal Cerrato (St. Louis, MO) | Men's Hockey - UCHC Co-Rookie of the Week - January 5th
John Gutt (Middletown, NJ) | Men's Hockey - Empire 8 Player of the Week - January 12th
John Gutt (Middletown, NJ) | Men's Hockey - UCHC Player of the Week - January 12th
Gabriel Lundberg (Gothenburg, Sweden) | Men's Hockey - Empire 8 Player of the Week - January 19th
Gabriel Lundberg (Gothenburg, Sweden) | Men's Hockey - UCHC Co-Player of the Week - January 19th
Aidan Hughes (Mississauga, Ontario) | Men's Hockey - Empire 8 Player of the Week - January 26th
Aidan Hughes (Mississauga, Ontario) | Men's Hockey - UCHC Co-Player of the Week - January 26th
Stepan Kuznetsov (Yaroslavl, Russia) | Men's Hockey - UCHC Rookie of the Week - January 26th
Frank Murphy (Mississauga, Ontario) | Men's Hockey - UCHC Goalie of the Week - February 2nd
Frank Murphy (Mississauga, Ontario) | Men's Hockey - Empire 8 Goalie of the Week - February 2nd
Eric Vitale (Toronto, Ontario) | Men's Hockey - Empire 8 Player of the Week - February 9th
Drake Morse (Grand Rapids, MI) | Men's Hockey - Empire 8 Player of the Week - February 23rd
Drake Morse (Grand Rapids, MI) | Men's Hockey - UCHC Player of the Week - February 23rd
 
The Postseason Picture: The UCHC Tournament kicked off yesterday night, with two nailbiters combining for an amazing start to this collegiate hockey playoff season. Below are the final UCHC standings, bracket, and a brief synopsis of each matchup in the first round.
 
Final UCHC Standings
1: Utica* | 42 pts | 13-2-1 UCHC
2: Geneseo* | 36 pts | 12-4 UCHC
3: Chatham* | 30 pts | 10-5-1 UCHC
4: Nazareth* | 27 pts | 9-6-1 UCHC
5: Albertus Magnus | 24 pts | 8-8 UCHC
6: Brockport | 20 pts | 6-10 UCHC
 
7: St. John Fisher | 15 pts | 5-11 UCHC
8: Elmira | 14 pts | 4-11-1 UCHC
9: Manhattanville | 8 pts | 3-13 UCHC
 
#4 Nazareth 4, #5 Albertus Magnus 3 (F, 2 OT) | Brighton, NY | 2:00 PM: Nazareth and Albertus Magnus opened up the 2026 UCHC Men's Hockey Tournament with a spectacular matchup that was only decided after just under 85 minutes of play. The visiting Falcons would take a 2-0 lead shortly into the second period, before Nazareth would respond with a power play goal to cut the lead in half heading to the third period. Albertus Magnus would put one foot in the door of the UCHC Semifinals after an early third-period goal made it 3-1, however, the hosts would score twice in the following 13 minutes, including an equalizer with under 25 seconds remaining, to knot the score at 3-3 and send the game to overtime. 20 extra minutes wasn't enough to decide the game, so the matchup headed to a rare double overtime period. Just under five minutes into the second OT, Nazareth's Lucas Stanojevic would corral a rebound off the back wall and slide it past the outstretched pad of the Falcons' goalkeeper to give Nazareth a huge 4-3 victory.
 
#3 Chatham 4, #6 Brockport 3 (F, 3 OT) | Pittsburgh, PA | 5:30 PM: After that first matchup went 85 minutes, Chatham and Brockport said "hold my Powerade", as they would proceed to play for over 102 minutes before the nightcap would be decided. Brockport would storm out to a shocking 3-1 second-period lead, building upon the momentum they gained from their victory over Geneseo the prior weekend. However, Chatham would clinch the league's second consecutive third-period comeback as they netted two goals in the third period, including an equalizer with just over a minute remaining, to send the game to overtime. Not one, not two, but THREE overtimes were needed to decide this one, as the legendary run of Brockport goaltender David Filak unfortunately came to an end. After 61 saves and over 100 minutes of icetime, Filak would stop two-straight attacks in quick succession, before a third crasher, Breyden Zupsansky would flick a backhand just over the pads of Filak, giving Chatham the overtime win. The Cougars will now play Geneseo this weekend at 7:00 PM up in Geneseo, New York.
 
Here is the UCHC Bracket following the first round of play:


 
In the national ranks, there were a few shocking results, including Hamilton dropping two matchups and Bowdoin also experiencing a rare loss. Even after all of that, the Pioneers have some work to in order to clinch a spot in the field of 14. Below is a look at the top ten of the NPI heading into this week, along with the postseason scenario for the orange and blue - the asterisks represent projected conference champions.
 
National Collegiate Percentage Index as of 2/26/26
#1: Hobart* | 66.079 | 26-0 | SUNYAC (1)
#2: Hamilton* | 59.330 | 18-4-2 | NESCAC (1)
#3: Endicott* | 58.639 | 19-3-3 | CNE (1)
#4: University of New England | 58.110 | 20-5 | CNE (2)
#5: Adrian* | 58.100 | 20-6-1 | NCHA (1)
#6: Bowdoin | 57.968 | 16-6-1 | NESCAC (2)
#7: Salve Regina | 57.904 | 17-3 | Independent
#8: Utica* | 58.842 | 17-7-1 | UCHC (1)
#9: Aurora | 57.743 | 22-4-1 | NCHA (2)
#10: UW Stout* | 57.375 | 19-5-1 | WIAC (1)
 
In the current rankings, if each conference tournament were won by the current NPI leader in that league, the remaining at-large bids would go to University of New England, Bowdoin, Salve Regina, and Aurora. The Pioneers would technically occupy the last spot should they lose in the UCHC Tournament. However, that spot is anything but guaranteed for a few reasons. 1: If any of the highly-ranked projected conference champions - Hobart, Hamilton, Endicott - were to not win their conference championship, they would then become an at-large bid, shrinking the top four slots. For example, if Hobart were to lose in the SUNYAC Tournament, they would then become an at-large, making the four at-larges Hobart, UNE, Bowdoin, and Salve Regina. Because of that, the #4 at-large spot is dangerous territory. 2: Teams cannot jump in the NPI without playing. If a team is knocked out of their conference tournament, they are fairly set in their NPI score. It can marginally increase or decrease depending on what their former opponents do, however, they now have no control over their destiny. For those two reasons, this weekend is paramount for the Pioneers' NCAA Tournament chances.
 
Here is a link to the current NPI: https://www.uscho.com/rankings/npi/d-iii-men
 
Here are some featured matchups to keep an eye on this weekend, related to the top 10 of the NPI (the rankings used are from the NPI and are not from either of the rankings polls).
 
Saturday, February 28th
 
UCHC Semifinals
#8 Utica vs #19 Nazareth - 7:00 PM @ Utica
#13 Geneseo vs #16 Chatham - 7:00 PM @ Geneseo
 
NESCAC Quartefinals
#2 Hamilton vs #44 Connecticut College - 3:00 PM @ Hamilton
#6 Bowdoin vs #27 Amherst - 4:00 PM @ Bowdoin
 
CNE Semifinals
#3 Endicott vs #22 Suffolk - 1:00 PM @ Endicott
#4 UNE vs #54 Nichols - 7:00 PM @ UNE
 
NCHA Semifinals
#5 Adrian vs #9 Aurora - 3:00 PM @ Adrian
#11 St. Norbert vs #15 Trine - 8:00 PM @ St. Norbert
 
WIAC Semifinals
#10 UW Stout vs #41 UW Stevens Point - 8:30 PM @ UW Stout
 
Orange and Blue Archive - Nazareth University & UCHC Semifinals: This weekend, the Pioneers will play their 23rd straight conference postseason game at the Adirondack Bank Center. To get an idea of how dominant the team has been over the past decade, the Pioneers' last road postseason game of any kind was in the 2016 ECAC West Conference Championship, when the orange and blue traveled to Hobart. Since then, the team has played 31 straight home or neutral postseason games, including both conference tournaments and the NCAA Tournament. The team has also never been on the road in the NCAA Tournament, playing six home and four neutral matchups in the program's history.
 
This matchup will be the seventh all-time meeting between the Pioneers and the Golden Flyers in conference tournament play, with the orange and blue having won all six playoff matchups to post a 6-0 record.
 
These two teams last met in postseason play during the 2023-2024 UCHC Quarterfinals, where the Pioneers used a third-period surge to come away with a 3-0 victory. That iteration of the orange and blue had entered the contest with a 20-0-1 record in conference, holding the #1 overall seed, while Nazareth entered as just the #8 overall seed. The Pioneers would outshoot Nazareth in both the first and second period, but couldn't find the net thanks to the heroics of Golden Flyer goalie Matt Sayles. In the third period, though, the goals fell in rapid succession, with Michael Herrera and Brian Scoville (Agawam, MA/Alabama-Huntsville (NCAA DI)) ripping the cord midway through the period, and Shane Murphy (Oriskany, NY/Danbury Hat Tricks (NAHL)) capping off the win with an empty net score. The Pioneers would go on to defeat Alvernia and Stevenson in the semifinal and championship, respectively, to capture the conference crown.
 
The year prior, the two teams met for the then-fifth time in postseason play, but that iteration was on a much grander scale, taking place in the 2023 UCHC Championship. The Pioneers entered that tilt as the #1 overall seed and were staking their perfect 22-0 conference record against the #2-seeded Golden Flyers. The visitors would open the scoring in the first period, leading 1-0 after 20 minutes. However, the orange and blue would hit the gas pedal in the second period and never look back, scoring the next four goals to take a 4-1 lead. Nazareth would fight toward the finale, grabbing two goals of their own to cut the deficit to just one score. However, Dante Zapata would end the matchup with an empty-net goal, one of his two scores on the day, to give the Pioneers the UCHC Championship by a 5-3 final.
 
The remaining four matchups between these two teams occurred in the two seasons prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, as the Pioneers swept Nazareth in the first round of both the 2019 and 2020 UCHC Tournaments, contributing to their 6-0 postseason record against Nazareth.
 
Scouting the Golden Flyers: Nazareth enters this weekend's semifinal showdown after securing their 16th win of the season in comeback fashion earlier this week. The Golden Flyers defeated Albertus Magnus 4-3 in double overtime after initially trailing 3-1 earlier in the game. Nazareth has posted a 16-7-3 record this season, finishing as the #4-ranked team in the UCHC with a 9-6-1 conference record. This Nazareth team is dangerous and battle-tested, currently ranking #19 in the NPI despite having the 19th-hardest strength of schedule in Division III Men's Hockey. The team has been solid under first-year coach James McDonald, reaching the UCHC Semifinals for the first time in three seasons.
 
The Golden Flyers are a balanced squad, only having one double-digit scorer in Blake Frost (11g, 12a). The senior forward has stepped up this season, building upon his solid production from last season (6g, 10a) to become Nazareth's biggest offensive threat. Last year's points leader is also still in the lineup this season, as Logan Tobias has been a solid contributor to the offensive success of the purple and gold. Tobias, also a senior, has posted totals of seven goals and 11 assists, slotting in as the team's second-leading point getter behind Frost. Tobias has seen a little decline in production, dropping from a 27-point season last year. However, his sacrifice on offense has led the team to double its win total from last season, a worthy compromise.
 
Three different goaltenders have seen significant gametime for the Golden Flyers, creating an interesting situation for Saturday. Freshman stopper Paul Dalessio has seen the most gametime and even got the start on Wednesday against Albertus Magnus during the team's first-round win. However, Dalessio played just under 84 minutes in that matchup, which will hurt his longevity for this weekend's contest. Dalessio has posted a goals allowed average of 2.41 to go along with a .928 save percentage.
 
If Dalessio isn't the starter, the second choice would be sophomore Mason Joseph, who is the only goaltender to not see time against the Pioneers this season. Joseph has a 1.76 goals allowed average to pair with a .955 save percentage.
 
Nazareth's offense as a whole has combined for 3.2 goals per game, fifth in the UCHC. Although they've struggled a bit on special teams this season, posting the fifth-best power play conversion percentage in the conference at .188 (21-112). They've also shown a major weakness when giving opposing teams the man advantage, ranking second-worst in the UCHC on the penalty kill, which has allowed opponents to score at a .247 rate. The Pioneers took advantage of this during the regular season series, scoring six power-play goals during a two-game sweep. However, this is postseason hockey, and the tighter calls might give the Golden Eagles an advantage. Additionally, Albertus Magnus went a combined 0-7 on the power play during Wednesday's contest.
 
With a Win: The Pioneers would advance to the UCHC Championship Game, which would take place on Saturday, March 7th at the Adirondack Bank Center. They would face the winner of the other semifinal between Geneseo and Chatham. Keep an eye on our social media for more information!