UTICA, NY – The Utica College men’s hockey team earned the No. 5 seed in the ECAC Men’s West Conference Tournament and will travel to No. 4 Elmira College for quarterfinal action on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Hobart College earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament and will receive a first round bye alongside No. 2 Neumann University. Nazareth College is the No. 3 seed in the tournament and will host No. 6 Manhattanville on Wednesday in quarterfinal play.
The Pioneers head into the conference tournament with an 11-9-5 overall record. UC finished conference play with a 4-8-3 ledger this season. Elmira earned the No. 4 seed after registering an 11-11-3 overall record and a 5-8-2 mark in the ECAC West. Elmira secured a 2-1 series advantage over UC in the three game regular season set this year. All three games between the two teams were decided by one goal.
The last time these two teams met in the post season was in the ECAC West Tournament Championship game last year at Utica on March 8th. The Soaring Eagles came away with a 5-2 victory.
Utica is led by senior forward Louie Educate (Chicago, IL/Aberdeen (NAHL)) who ranks fourth in the conference with 24 points (11 goals, 13 assists) this season. Educate has 120 career points (62 goals, 58 assists) in 107 career games at the division III level.
UC has secured a record of .500 or better for the 10th time in program-history. The Pioneers have boasted a winning record in eight of the last 10 seasons and they have won at least 11 games 13 times since the program’s inception back in 2001.
