UTICA, NY – The third seeded Utica College men’s hockey team travels to Geneva, New York on Saturday for the ECAC West Championship game as the Pioneers take on top seeded and nationally-ranked No. 5 Hobart College at the Geneva Recreation Complex Skating Rink. The game is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m.
Listen Live: Saturday’s ECAC Men’s West Hockey Championship game will be broadcast on the radio locally at WTLB 99.1 FM/1310 AM (ESPN Radio) by UC alum and play-by-play man Ray Biggs … Live streaming audio can also be accessed on WTLB’s website, www.espnur.com… Fans can also download the free ESPNUR app on their Iphone or Droid device by searching “ESPNUR” in their respective app store.
Last Time Out: The Pioneers traveled to Rye, New York to face off against Manhattanville College in the ECAC West Conference tournament semifinals last Saturday … Utica entered the third period down 3-1 but scored two goals to tie and force the game into overtime … Sophomore Anthony McVeigh (Kemptville, Ontario/Carleton Place (CCHL)) scored the game-winning goal 3:02 into the overtime period to lift the Pioneers to a 4-3 victory.
The Journey to the ECAC West Finals: Utica finished the regular season with a 12-9-4 overall record and an 6-6-3 ECAC West record, which led to being the third seed in the ECAC West Conference Tournament … The Pioneers hosted a playoff game at the Utica Memorial Auditorium against Elmira College last Wednesday … UC won the quarterfinal game, 5-3, against Elmira to advance to the semifinals against No. 2 seed Manhattanville College … Utica defeated Manhattanville in overtime last Saturday, 4-3, to move on to the finals … UC is now has a record of 14-9-4 after their two playoff victories … Hobart had a first round bye and faced Neumann in the semifinals after Neumann defeated Nazareth in the quarterfinals … The Statesmen shutout the Knights 3-0 and secured a spot in the finals.
ECAC West Title Game History: Utica is advancing to its second ECAC West title game in the last three years and fourth overall in the program’s 15-year history … UC is still in search of its first conference tournament title … The Pioneers have played Elmira twice in the championship game (13-14, 05-06) and Manhattanville once (04-05).
Playoff Tested: Senior Nick Miglio (San Antonio, TX/Bismarck (NAHL)) leads the Pioneers in the 2016 playoffs with four points off of two goals and two assists this post season … Anthony McVeigh (Kemptville, Ontario/Carleton Place (CCHL)) netted the game winner in overtime last Saturday and has three points in the 2016 playoffs off of two goals and one assist … Brett Szajner (Novi, MI/Amarillo (NAHL)) also has three points in the last two games, all off of assists … Joel Wetmore (Horseheads, NY/Lindsay (OJHL)) and Trent Samuels-Thomas (West Hartford, CT/Omaha (USHL)) have two points each off of one goal and one assist … Zach Borsoi (Brossard, Quebec/Gloucester (CCHL)), Vince Stefan (Pittsburgh, PA/Kenai River (NAHL)), and Dalton Carter (Toledo, OH/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) each have two points off of two assists.
Regional Rankings: The Pioneers are currently ranked ninth in the final public release of the NCAA Division III East Regional Rankings released on Tuesday … The national committee ranked 16 teams this week (10 in the East region, six in the West region) … This week’s rankings are the final of three regional rankings that were released to the public and they will be used to determine both NCAA tournament bids and seeding … The final rankings determined on March 6 will not be released to the public, as the NCAA Committee will release its bracket for the 11 team NCAA Division III Tournament … Hobart is currently the No. 1 ranked team in the East region … The Pioneers are also receiving votes just outside of the top 15 in the d3hockey.com and the USCHO.com national polls.
National Team of the Week: Utica sophomore Anthony McVeigh (Kemptville, Ontario/Carleton Place (CCHL)) was named to the D3hockey.com National Team of the Week on Tuesday after his stellar performance against Manhattanville last weekend … The honor marks the first time in his career that McVeigh has been named to the National Team of the Week.
Team Offense: The Pioneers have 12 players that have 10 or more points this season … Anthony McVeigh (Kemptville, Ontario/Carleton Place (CCHL)) leads the team with 19 points (seven goals and 12 assists), and ECAC West Rookie of the Year Hayden Dawes (Stony Plain, Alberta/Drayton Valley (AJHL)) leads UC in goals scored with 10 and is second on the team with 18 points … Nick Miglio (San Antonio, TX/Bismarck (NAHL)) is tied for third on the team with 16 points (seven goals and nine assists) while sophomore Kevin Valenti (Queensbury, NY/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) also has 16 points off of four goals and 12 assists … Senior Joel Wetmore (Horseheads, NY/Lindsay (OJHL)) rounds out the top five with 15 points off of seven goals and eight assists.
Tough Defense: As a team, the Pioneers rank second in Division III on the penalty kill allowing only 10 goals out of 103 opportunities (90.3) … Utica’s defense is also ranked 25th in the nation in goals against allowing 2.44 goals a game … Brett Szajner (Novi, MI/Amarillo (NAHL)) leads the defense with 12 points off of two goals and 10 assists while Vince Stefan (Pittsburgh, PA/Kenai River (NAHL)) is second on the defense with 10 points off of one goal and nine assists.
Between The Pipes: Freshman Michael Fredrick (Lethbridge, Alberta/Brooks Bandits (AJHL)) has started 26 games this year for UC and holds a 14-8-4 record … Fredrick is 18th in DIII in save percentage (.930), he is 28th in the nation in goals against average (2.17), and he is tied for 17th in the nation in shutouts (two) … Fredrick is now the first goalie in program-history to record over 700 saves in a single season (760) and he is first in the single season record books in saves per game (29.2) … His .930 save percentage ranks second all-time in a single season at UC, he is also fourth in the single season record books in goals against average (2.17), and he is second in shutouts (two)… His 14 wins are tied for second in the College’s single season record book … Fredrick was also an ECAC West All-Conference Second Team pick and an ECAC West All-Rookie Team selection.
Home Ice Dominance At The Cooler: Hobart is 12-0-0 at home this season heading into this weekend’s contest … The Statesmen have outscored their opponents 60-18 on their home ice and have scored four or more goals nine times this season while at the Cooler.
Against The Statesmen: The Pioneers are 0-3-0 this year against Hobart … UC has been outscored 16-6 in those three matchups and has been outscored 11-5 in the two games at the Cooler … This marks just the second time that these two teams are meeting in the playoffs, the first time was in the 2003-2004 season when UC traveled to take on Hobart in the ECAC West Conference semifinals … Utica fell to the Statesmen 4-2.
Scouting Hobart: The nationally-ranked No. 5 Statesmen are 20-4-2 overall with a 12-3-0 ECAC West Conference record …Hobart is coming off of a 3-0 victory over Neumann … The Statesmen are led by a trio of seniors consisting of Brad Robbins (30 points off of 17 goals and 13 assists), Mac Olsen (26 points off of 13 goals and 13 assists), and Ben Gamache (25 points off of seven goals and 18 assists) … In the net for Hobart is the committee of Lino Chimienti (10-2-2, 416 saves, .943 save percentage, and a 1.81 goals against average) and Frank Oplinger (10-2-0, 324 saves, .936 save percentage, and a 1.81 goals against average).
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 #UCMoose… You can also “Like” the Pioneers on Facebook at www.facebook.com/UCpioneers … Fans can also follow the Pioneers on Instagram: UCPioneers.
