UTICA, NY - This weekend, the #8 Pioneers will be renewing an old rivalry when they meet the Soaring Eagles of Elmira College in a two-game UCHC series. Elmira College left the UCHC following the 2020-2021 season, heading to the NEHC for a brief stint, before returning to the UCHC ahead of this season. Elmira will welcome the Pioneers to the MAC on Friday, before traveling to the site of last year's National Championship to do battle with their old rival on Saturday inside the Nexus Center. 
 
This Weekend's Action: The # 8 Pioneers hope to continue their unbeaten conference winning streak this double-header weekend as the orange and blue travel to Elmira to face the Soaring Eagles at the Murray Athletic Center, Friday, February 6th, before coming back home to finish off the series at the Nexus Center, Saturday, February 7th. Both games start at 7:00 pm.
 
Check out all the information about this weekend's series!
 
Looking for a Ticket for Friday's matchup?
 
For Friday's game at Elmira, you can purchase a ticket at the following link:  https://fan.hudl.com/tickets/VGlja2V0ZWRFdmVudDY4Y2MxYjQ1N2UyM2NjMjIwY2E4YWJlMA==
 
General admission is $10, while senior citizens and children ages 13-18 get in for just $5. Kids under 12 get in free.
 
Saturday's matchup at the Utica University Nexus Center will be available only to season ticket holders due to the arena's smaller size. If you're a season ticket holder, please call the Adirondack Bank Center Box Office to claim your seat now!
 
For anyone who isn't a season ticket holder, please join us on the Empire 8 Network as we renew this rivalry alongside longtime Pioneer voice and Utica men's hockey broadcaster Ray Biggs. You can find that link down below.
 
Stream: You can stream this weekend's games by heading to the following links:
 
Friday: https://www.empire8network.com/elmira/
 
Saturday: 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 these links:
 
Friday: https://athletics.elmira.edu/sidearmstats/mhockey/summary
 
Saturday: https://uticapioneers.com/sidearmstats/mhockey/summary
 
Recapping Last Weekend's Series Sweep Over St. John Fisher: This past weekend, the Pioneers took on first-time for St. John Fisher in the birth of a new UCHC rivalry. During the two-game set, all facets of the Pioneers' game continued to perform at maximum capacity as they dominated the debuting Cardinals by scores of 7-1 and 4-0, sweeping the Cardinals and remaining undefeated in UCHC play.

Following the previous weekend's offensive explosion against Albertus Magnus, the Pioneers did not let up and continued to put on a show in both games of the series. In game one, the orange and blue were on a tear, as they effortlessly outshot (46-25) and out-scored (7-1) their competition to achieve a big victory in their first matchup. The result of their second meeting was no different, though the method to achieve the series sweep varied a bit from the night before: instead of relying on a relentless attack, the Pioneers took an early lead and stood tall behind stellar goaltender Frank Murphy (Mississauga, Ontario) to secure the win. The Pioneers' puck control gave them the opportunity to outshoot (32-20) and outscore (4-0) their opponent once again, achieving the series sweep.
 
The Pioneers grabbed their ninth and tenth conference wins, keeping both their unbeaten record and their now nine-game winning streak alive.
 
Sustaining Even More Streaks: Last week, we mentioned several personal and team-wide streaks the Pioneers have been on since the turn of the new year. Since then, all of these streaks have continued, and even more have been added to the surge.
 
Once again, the most important streak is their now-9-game winning streak, which began in late 2025. Their run of dominance in conference play has allowed them to hop back into the heart of the NCAA Tournament conversation after sitting in the mid-50s of the NPI back in early November. On top of that, the Pioneers have outscored their conference opponents by a 55-11 margin.
 
One of the primary forces behind the Pioneers allowing just 11 goals in conference play has been their recent run of success in net, led last weekend by the freshman phenom Frank Murphy (Mississauga, Ontario). Murphy, thanks to allowing just one goal and grabbing 44 saves last weekend against St. John Fisher, was named both UCHC and Empire 8 Goalie of the week, keeping the Pioneers' recent awards streak alive. Murphy's pair of honors have now cemented yet another week in which the orange and blue captured at least one award from both leagues. It's now been five straight weeks of conference doubles for the team, dating back to the turn of the new year. Here is a look at all the conference awards the team received this season:
 
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
 
Last week, we discussed three Pioneers who were on point streaks of five games or more. After another weekend filled to the brim with goals, each player continued their respective rolls, continuing all three of their point streaks.
 
Stepan Kuznetsov (Yaroslavl, Russia) kept up the point-per-game pace that he's been on since joining the team, still having scored or assisted in each outing. He grabbed two points (1g, 1a) in game one against the Cardinals, and then managed to keep his streak alive thanks to a fourth and final goal in the third period, which was coincidentally assisted by John Gutt (Middletown, NJ), and scored by Nick Ahern (Chicago, IL), the other two players currently on massive streaks.
 
As mentioned, Ahern kept up his run, now having matched Kuznetsov at eight games in a row with either a goal or an assist. The junior transfer accrued two points (1g, 1a) in Friday's 7-1 win, before slotting away the fourth and final goal in game two to keep the streak alive.
 
Gutt also moved his streak to seven games, thanks to assists in each game this past weekend.
 
A new entrant to the streaks category is junior forward Drake Morse (Grand Rapids, MI), who, thanks to a strong weekend where he tied for the team lead with four points, has now tallied a point in six straight matchups. The new additions and returners from last season are starting to gel at the perfect time, capped off by the captain's recent rise.
 
The Postseason Picture: The Pioneers strengthened their hold on the UCHC regular season title picture this past weekend, moving to 10-0 in conference play to post a perfect 30 points and officially clinch a postseason berth. Geneseo and Chatham also met in a heavyweight battle, with the Knights securing a two-game sweep over the Cougars to remain in second place. Geneseo is right behind the orange and blue with 28 points; however, they have played two more league games. The 3-6 seeds are all neck-and-neck, separated by only 4 total points. Here is a look at the conference standings as of right now:
 
1: Utica | 30 pts | 10-0 UCHC | 10 GP
2: Geneseo | 28 pts | 9-3 UCHC | 12 GP
3: Chatham | 17 pts | 6-4 UCHC | 10 GP
4: Brockport | 16 pts | 5-5 UCHC | 10 GP
5: Albertus Magnus | 15 pts | 5-7 UCHC | 12 GP
6: Nazareth | 13 pts | 4-5-1 UCHC | 10 GP
 
7: St. John Fisher | 9 pts | 3-9 UCHC | 12 GP
8: Manhattanville | 8 pts | 3-7 UCHC | 10 GP
9: Elmira | 8 pts | 2-7-1 UCHC | 10 GP
 
On a national level, the Pioneers continued to rise up the ranks. After ranking 6th in the NPI (the official rankings system of the Division III NCAA Tournament) this past weekend, the Pioneers saw two teams ahead of them lose and fall down the list. Endicott, the CNE frontrunner, lost a shocking matchup to a 4-14 Western New England side, with that 3-4 overtime loss dropping them all the way down to #10 in the NPI. Elsewhere, Oswego lost an equally shocking matchup on home ice to the SUNY Canton Kangaroos, dropping to #7. Because of these losses, the Pioneers climbed up to #4, putting themselves in a position to potentially host first round and quarterfinal NCAA action if the season were to end today. Here is a look at the current NPI, along with some featured games to keep an eye on this week.
 
National Collegiate Percentage Index as of 2/4/26
#1: Hobart* | 65.619 | 20-0 | SUNYAC
#2: Hamilton* | 61.382 | 15-1-2 | NESCAC
#3: Aurora* | 59.200 | 18-3 | NCHA
#4: Utica* | 58.738 | 14-5 | UCHC
#5: Adrian | 58.264 | 15-5-1 | NCHA
#6: University of New England* | 57.915 | 15-5 | CNE
#7: Oswego | 57.723 | 14-3-2 | SUNYAC
#8: Bowdoin | 57.721 | 11-5-1 | NESCAC
#9: Salve Regina | 57.565 | 17-3 | Independent
#10: Endicott | 57.346 | 14-3-2 | CNE
 
In the current rankings, if each conference tournament were to be one by the current NPI leader of that league, the remaining at-large bids would go to Adrian, Oswego, Bowdoin, and Salve Regina.
 
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).
 
Friday, February 6th
#1 Hobart vs #7 Oswego - 7:00 PM @ Hobart
#8 Bowdoin vs #2 Hamilton - 7:00 PM @ Bowdoin
#12 Curry vs #10 Endicott - 7:00 PM @ Curry
#5 Adrian vs #49 Concordia (Wis.) - 7:00 PM @ Adrian
 
Saturday, February 7th
#10 Endicott vs #12 Curry - 3:00 PM @ Endicott
#7 Oswego vs #16 Geneseo - 7:00 PM @ Oswego
#19 Norwich vs #11 Babson - 4:00 PM @ Norwich
#25 Colby vs #2 Hamilton - 3:00 PM @ Colby
#8 Bowdoin vs #27 Amherst - 3:00 PM @ Bowdoin
#5 Adrian vs #49 Concordia (Wis.) - 4:00 PM @ Adrian
 
Orange and Blue Archive - Elmira College: This weekend will feature the return of a historic rivalry that dates back to the inception of the Pioneer program, as these two teams were conference rivals right from the start of Utica men's hockey, with both teams featuring in the ECAC West for over 15 years until the league's disbanding. The two teams would remain rivals for a few years after that in the newly formed UCHC, before Elmira left for the NEHC following the 2020-21 season. With the NEHC disbanding over the summer, Elmira has returned to its former league, renewing the rivalry with its northern foe, the Pioneers, in the process.
 
These two programs have met each other on 59 different occasions, with only one of those meetings, the last matchup in November 2023, being a non-league contest. Elmira, a historically powerful program, has gotten the better of the orange and blue during those bouts, as the Pioneers have a 22-30-7 record against the southern tier side.
 
The teams last met in a non-conference matchup during the championship game of the 2023 Delta by Marriott Utica Thanksgiving Showcase, one in which Elmira broke a 2-2 2nd-period tie to score three unanswered goals and pull away with a 5-2 victory.
 
The last meeting between the two teams as league-mates came in the 2021 UCHC Semifinals, a matchup that became the fourth-longest contest in Division III history. In the crazy contest, the two teams would each notch a goal in regulation to remain tied at 1-1 heading to overtime. Elmira would score first, before Brett Everson scored in the second period to tie the game up. After two full overtime periods, the Soaring Eagles managed to find the winning goal, sending them to the UCHC Championship. That contest was also the first to feature a number of fans since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak.
 
Scouting the Soaring Eagles: Last season, the Soaring Eagles posted a 13-11-2 overall record, also going 10-9-1 during their final season in the NEHC. The season would come to a close with a 3-2 loss at Norwich in the NEHC Semifinals. This season, the Soaring Eagles have experienced a bit of adversity, with the UCHC schedule ramping up, resulting in a 4-14-1 record to date and a 2-7-1 mark in UCHC play. Despite the down year, Elmira has a few solid wins, defeating Potsdam (2-1), St. John Fisher (3-2), King's College (10-4), and, most recently, a shocking 4-3 win at Geneseo on January 23rd. Elmira also took a tough Nazareth side to a shootout this past weekend, winning it 2-0.
 
This weekend, the Soaring Eagles will look to keep up their string of solid performances as they attempt to uproot the Pioneers' winning ways. Leading the charge will be a quartet of double-digit point-getters in Lucas Stevenson (7g, 7a), Tyler Schwindt (9g, 3a), Jake Terra (2g, 9a), and Nicholas Bennett (2g, 8a). Schwindt, the lone senior of the four, will look to rally a Soaring Eagle team that seems pretty hopeful for the future, with Stevenson being just a sophomore, and the pair of Terra and Bennett in their rookie seasons for the squad.
 
The Soaring Eagles have seen lots of shifting between the pipes, but have relied on the goaltender services of Brody Haynes, who, in 12 starts, has posted a goals allowed average of 4.00 and a save percentage of .857. However, recently it's been the freshman Avery Rovira-Hewett who's seen a majority of the icetime, playing in all four games the past two weekends, including the 4-3 win over Geneseo, where he logged 60 minutes. The rookie stopper has a 3.63 goals allowed average to go with a .902 save percentage.
 
Following This Weekend's Conference Doubleheader: The Pioneers will only have two more conference series remaining after this weekend, taking on SUNY Geneseo next week in a home-and-home, before welcoming Chatham for two home games to cap off their 25th regular season. The team will be back at the Adirondack Bank Center next weekend, facing Geneseo at home on Friday, February 13th, before traveling to the Ira on Saturday, February 14th. Both games begin at 7:00 PM.