UTICA, NY – The No. 5 Utica College men’s ice hockey team is finally home. The team certainly felt that way on Saturday in their first home game since December 14th. On the heels of a perfect five game road trip, the Pioneers overpowered UCHC rival Neumann by a 5-2 score at the Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.
The win was the eighth consecutive for the Pioneers, who improve to an overall record of 13-2-2, and a conference record of 7-2-1. Utica has outscored opponents on its recent winning streak by a 51-21 margin, and have scored four or more goals in their last ten games. Utica sweeps the regular season series from the Knights after previously topping Neumann in November. UC has the third best winning percentage in the nation, and the fourth longest unbeaten streak.
The Pioneers remain in fourth in the UCHC now with 22 points, but made a considerable move towards the co-leaders in the conference with a win Saturday. The gap has been closed down to just five points behind the top spot after Wilkes was defeated by Elmira, and Stevenson was idle in league play this week. Both leaders have 27 standings points. Three points are awarded for a regulation or first overtime win in UCHC play.
Utica’s special teams excelled in the matchup with a 2-for-4 power play performance, and the penalty kill logged a short handed goal.
Senior defenseman Daniel Fritz (Harwood, MD/Canisius College (Atlantic Hockey)) had a multi point night to cement his place in the record books further among the program’s best-ever offensive blue liners. He had two assists to break a tie for second place with Zach Borsoi (Brossard, Quebec/Gloucester (CCHL)) on the college’s leaderboard for points by a defenseman in a career. He now has 65 career points to trail only All-American Dalton Carter (Toledo, OH/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) at that position.
Conor Landrigan (New Tripoli, PA/Binghamton Jr. Sens (NAHL)) had a goal and an assist for the Pioneers, with the goal being the 30th of his career. Dante Zapata (Huntington Beach, CA/Austin Bruins (NAHL)), Eric Holland (Whitby, ON/Brockville Braves (CCHL)), Donovan Ott (Lebanon, PA/Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (ECAC Hockey)), and Brett Everson (Mississauga, Ontario/Hawkesbury (CCHL)) also scored goals for Utica. Gianluca Baggetta (Maple, Ontario/North York (OJHL)) stopped 25 of 27 shots by the Knights to improve to a 7-1-2 record this season. He is now 23-5-4 over the last two campaigns in goal, and is 13-2-2 when playing in regular season conference games over a two year period.
The Pioneers unleashed a rampant opening period with 19 shots, and were able to leverage a tremendous starting pace into a 1-0 lead by the end of the frame. With a delayed penalty on the way, Brett Everson (Mississauga, Ontario/Hawkesbury (CCHL)) hammered a Jarrod Fitzpatrick (Wakefield, MA/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) assist into the back of the net to give Utica the lead after 20 minutes.
That one goal lead ballooned to three goals in the second as Utica’s special teams helped create separation. Danta Zapata lit the lamp with a power play strike at 7:29 of the second period as he circled the front of the cage and dangled past goaltender Kyle Pantelone for his second goal in as many home games.
A shorthanded goal for the highlight reels was Utica’s next step. The Pioneers appeared to be jammed up by a pair of mid-second period penalties as John Moncovich (Wilmington, NC/Hampton Roads Whalers (USPHL)) was flagged for cross checking at 12:39. The team then found themselves on the short end of a nine second 5-on-3 on another penalty of the same sort as Landrigan also made a trip to the box for cross checking. Utica promptly killed off the first penalty as Gianluca Baggetta (Maple, Ontario/North York (OJHL)) made a key save on the ensuing faceoff. With Moncovich flying out of the box, defenseman Jacob Cuffley (Kanata, ON/Smiths Falls Bears (CCHL)) lifted the puck up the boards to connect a breakout pass in stride for Moncovich. Ott leapt his way out of the zone into the rush at the same time, and the junior transfer walloped a one-timer past Pantelone for a 3-0 lead that would last through 40 minutes of action.
Both teams scored twice each in the third. Holland and Landrigan scored for Utica, and Danny Cangelosi and Mario Tropea each scored for Neumann as the Pioneers stagnated a three goal cushion en route to a 5-2 win.
