Utica, NY – After an impressive 2-0 start to the season the Utica College men’s hockey team is trending upward in the latest division III hockey national polls. The Pioneers jumped five spots and are ranked No. 9 in the latest USCHO.com National Poll. Utica leaped three spots and is now ranked No. 11 in the latest D3hockey.com rankings.
UC, ranked No. 14 in both of the preseason polls last week, won two games over the weekend to start the season 2-0 for the third consecutive year. The Pioneers used four third period goals to pull away from Fredonia in a 7-3 victory in their home opener on Friday night. UC’s Justin Derlago (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Selkirk (MJHL)) deflected home a key third period goal with just over five minutes left to lift the Pioneers’ to a 3-2 victory on the road at Cortland on Saturday.
Utica senior defender Dalton Carter (Toledo, OH/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) registered a team-high four points over the weekend. He currently leads the United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) with an average of 2.0 points per game. Carter is UC’s active leading scorer among defensemen with 47 career points. Senior’s Mikhail Bushinski (St. Paul, MN/Kenai River (NAHL)), Kevin Valenti (Queensbury, NY/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) and Roman Ammirato (Williamstown, NJ/Union College (ECAC)) each posted three points over the weekend for the Pioneers.
Sophomore goalie Gianluca Baggetta (Maple, Ontario/North York (OJHL)) picked up his first collegiate win on Saturday night as he got the nod and the victory for the Pioneers against Cortland. He stopped 22 shots and registered a save percentage of .917 in 60:00 of action. Sophomore goalie Patrik Virtanen (Vantaa, Finland/Lincoln (USHL)) earned the opening night start and stopped 27 shots in the victory over Fredonia.
Utica returns to the ice Friday when the Pioneers travel to Nazareth College to open up UCHC action at 7 p.m.
