UTICA, NY- The Utica College women’s hockey team remains home this weekend as it hosts ECAC West Conference opponent, Neumann University on Friday and Saturday. Friday night’s game is set to begin at 7 p.m. while Saturday’s faceoff will be at 2 p.m.
GOLD RIBBON GAME: Friday evening’s contest marks the fourth annual Shawn Grady Memorial Fund Gold Ribbon Game for childhood cancer awareness… UC has once again teamed up with the Shawn Grady Fund to show its support for all kids and their families who have been affected by childhood cancer… Throughout the month of January, the Pioneers have worn special edition gold ribbon uniforms that are being auctioned off online (HERE) and in the arena the night of the game… All proceeds from the event will be donated to help ease the medical costs of a local family that is currently dealing with the disease.
YOUTH HOCKEY NIGHT: The Pioneers will also be hosting a youth hockey night Friday evening… Any player who wears their youth hockey jersey to Utica’s game against Neumann University will receive free admission for them and their parent or guardian.
LAST TIME OUT: UC is coming off a conference sweep over SUNY Potsdam last weekend… Six different players scored in the series, including senior Morgan Reed (Fort Myers, FL/Cushing Academy), junior Gabrielle Schnepp (Northville, MI/Belle Tire), freshmen Taylor Dion (Colchester, VT/Boston Shamrocks) and Lauren Patterson (Burlington, Ontario/Oakville) and transfers Meghan Power (Windsor, Ontario/Southwest Wildcats) and Jane Pagano (Erie, PA/Tabor Academy) each netted their first goal in a Pioneer uniform… Junior Keira Goin (Dobbs Ferry, NY/Hotchkiss School) stopped 50 of 52 shots on the weekend as she picked up her sixth shutout of the year and improved to 10-4-1 this season.
NATIONAL ATTENTION: The Pioneers (11-5-1, 7-2-1 ECAC West) are currently receiving votes in both national polls… UC picked up five votes in the USCHO.com online poll, just nine behind tenth ranked Norwich University… Utica also picked up a vote in this week’s d3hockey.com online poll… With the sweep last weekend, the Pioneers moved into third place in the conference standings, one point ahead of Buffalo State and five points behind nationally ranked No. 2 Elmira College.
MOVIN’ ON UP: Over the weekend, senior Morgan Reed (Fort Myers, FL/Cushing Academy) moved into fourth place on the College’s career scoring list… Reed currently has 93 points in 98 games at UC… This season, she has matched her career-high of 26 points… She currently leads the team in goals (14) and points.
FRESHMAN PHENOM: Freshman Lauren Patterson (Burlington, Ontario/Oakville) was named the ECAC West Rookie of the Week, Tuesday for her performance last weekend… Patterson totaled one goal and three assists while helping the Pioneers sweep SUNY Potsdam in conference action last weekend… On the season, she ranks third on the team with 21 points… She is also third nationally in rookie scoring with 1.24 points per game… Patterson is just the third UC player to score at least 20 points as a freshman in the last eight years.
DISHING IT OUT: Junior Gabrielle Schnepp (Northville, MI/Belle Tire) leads the team and is tied for fifth nationally with an average of 1.00 assists per game… Her 17 assists this season are a new career-high, and she is currently second on the squad with 25 points.
STILL GOIN’ STRONG: Junior Keira Goin (Dobbs Ferry, NY/Hotchkiss School) has been lights out all season… She ranks third in the country with a 1.07 goals against average and .957 save percentage… Her school-record six shutouts this season are also tied for second nationally… She has allowed more than two goals just once this season (4-1 loss to Elmira on Nov. 21).
SCOUTING NEUMANN: The Knights are 4-12-1 overall and 2-9-1 in the conference… Neumann is coming off a split at home against SUNY Cortland on Sunday and Monday… The Knights are led by sophomore Bek Lucas, who has ten goals and 14 points in 17 games.
AGAINST THE KNIGHTS: Utica is 4-5-1 against Neumann in the last five years and three of those games have gone to overtime… Last year, the Pioneers tied and lost to the Knights… Samantha Husak (Jackson, MI/Grass Lake) had two goals, while Taylor Osowski (Highlands Ranch, CO/Colorado Selects) had one… Veronique Lortie (Chambly, Quebec/Berkshire School), Gabrielle Schnepp (Northville, MI/Belle Tire) and Morgan Reed (Fort Myers, FL/Cushing Academy) each had one assist on the weekend.
LOOKING AHEAD: Following this weekend’s series, the Pioneers will travel to Pittsburgh, PA for their final regular season road trip against Chatham University… The teams will faceoff Friday at 5 p.m. and Saturday at 3 p.m.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Make sure to follow live updates of the game on the Pioneers official Twitter feed: @UCPioneers… If you are at the game and on Twitter, or talking about the game on Twitter, make sure to use #UCgoesgold in honor of raising awareness for childhood cancer… You can also “Like” the Pioneers on Facebook at www.facebook.com/UCpioneers … Fans can also follow the Pioneers on Instagram: UCPioneers.
PIONEERS ALL-ACCESS: Make sure to catch live video and stats on Pioneers All-Access: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/utica/
