UTICA, NY – Freshman forward Dalton Carter (Toledo, OH/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) netted two goals in a span of 2:14midway through the second period as the nationally-ranked No. 14 Utica College men’s hockey team skated to a 4-2 season-opening victory over visiting Castleton State University Saturday night in front of a nearly sold out crowd (3,747 paid attendance) at the Utica Memorial Auditorium. Trent Samuels-Thomas (West Hartford, CT/Omaha (USHL)) assisted on both of Dalton’s goals to help the Pioneers win their season-opener for the fifth consecutive season.
“We were pleased to come away with a two goal victory against a very good Castleton program. You never know what to expect on opening night. We only have a short period of time to practice before the season starts – so with that said we are very happy with the outcome,” said 14th year Head Coach Gary Heenan. “We still have a lot to work on, but we will continue to work hard, and we are definitely happy to be 1-0 right now.”
All four of the Pioneers’ goals were scored by three different freshman. Kyle Lajeunesse (South Berwick, ME/New Hampshire (EHL)) netted his first career tally to start the scoring on the evening, just under 13 minutes into the first period, to give the Pioneers an early 1-0 lead.
Carter netted both of his goals at 13:31 and 15:45 of the second period to hand UC a convincing 3-0 lead with less than five minutes to go in the frame.
Castleton got on the board when Brian Greene tallied his first goal of the year at the 17:17 marker to cut UC’s lead to 3-1.
The Pioneers got right back to work, giving the home team a 4-1 edge just before the end of the second period, when freshmanBrent Wold (Lac Du Bonnet, Manitoba/Dauphin (MJHL)) tallied his first career goal, off assists from Louie Educate (Chicago, IL/Aberdeen (NAHL)) and Dalton Carter (Toledo, OH/Northern Cyclones (EHL)).
Castleton cut the Pioneer lead in half when Ryan O’Toole beat Utica senior goalie Mike Taffe (Maple Grove, MN/Amarillo (NAHL))with 6:14 left in the contest, but the UC defense stood strong for the remainder of the game as the Pioneers earned a two goal victory.
Lajeunesse finished the night with one goal and one assist, whileJoel Wetmore (Horseheads, NY/Lindsay (OJHL)), Nick Miglio (San Antonio, TX/Bismarck (NAHL)) and Easton Powers (South Lyon, MI/Port Huron (NAHL)) also added helpers of their own.
Taffe finished the day with 22 saves in net for UC, including 12 in the third period alone. Thomas Shelley stopped 32 total shot in net for the Spartans, while the Pioneers earned a 36-24 shot advantage.
UC returns to action back at the Aud on Friday night when the Pioneers host Nazareth College for an ECAC West Conference contest at 7 p.m.
