UTICA, NY – The third seeded Utica College men’s hockey team travels to Rye, New York on Saturday for the ECAC West Conference Tournament semifinals against second seeded Manhattanville College at the PlayLand Ice Casino. The contest is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
Last Time Out: The Pioneers hosted Elmira on Wednesday for an ECAC West Tournament quarterfinal matchup … UC grounded the Soaring Eagles 5-3 to advance to the semi-finals … Five different Pioneers scored as Utica used four third period goals to overcome a 2-1 deficit to defeat Elmira in the playoffs … Headed into the contest the Pioneers had been knocked out of the ECAC West Tournament by the Soaring Eagles in each of the last two seasons.
Road To The ECAC West Finals: The Road to the ECAC West Finals goes through the PlayLand Ice Casino … The victor of Saturday’s matchup will go on to face the winner of the No. 1 Hobart vs. No. 4 Nuemann game at the Cooler in Geneva, NY, also on Saturday night … If Nuemann upsets Hobart and Utica upsets the Valiants then Utica will host the championship against Nuemann at the Utica Memorial Auditorium … If Hobart and UC win then the Pioneers will travel to top-seeded Hobart for the championship game.
Team Offense: Utica has 10 players with 10 or more points so far this season … Freshman Hayden Dawes (Stony Plain, Alberta/Drayton Valley (AJHL)) leads the team with 18 points off of a team-high 10 goals and eight assists … Sophomore Anthony McVeigh (Kemptville, Ontario/Carleton Place (CCHL)) is second on the team with 17 points off of five goals and 12 assists while fellow sophomore Kevin Valenti (Queensbury, NY/Northern Cyclones (EHL)) is third on the team with 16 points off of four goals and 12 assists … Seniors Joel Wetmore (Horseheads, NY/Lindsay (OJHL)) and Nick Miglio (San Antonio, TX/Bismarck (NAHL)) and freshmen Alex Roberts (Burnaby, British Columbia/Brooks Bandits (AJHL)) are tied for third on the team with 14 points … Wetmore has seven goals and seven assists, Miglio has six goals and eight assists, and Roberts has five goals and nine assists.
Dominating Defense: As a team, the Pioneers are ranked second in the nation in the penalty kill only allowing nine goals in 97 chances (90.7) … The team is also ranked 24th in Division III in scoring defense (2.42 goals per game, 63 goals allowed all season) … Brett Szajner (Novi, MI/Amarillo (NAHL)) leads the defense with 10 points off of two goals and eight assists while Vince Stefan (Pittsburgh, PA/Kenai River (NAHL)) is second on the defense with nine points off of one goal and eight assists.
Between The Pipes: Freshman Michael Fredrick (Lethbridge, Alberta/Brooks Bandits (AJHL)) has started 25 games this year for UC and holds a 13-8-4 record … Fredrick is 18th in DIII in save percentage (.932), he is 27th in the nation in goals against average (2.14), and he is tied for 16th in the nation in shutouts (2) … Fredrick is now the first goalie in program-history to record over 700 saves in a single season (740) and he is first in the single season record books in saves per game (29.6) … His .932 save percentage ranks second all-time in a single season at UC, he is also second in the single season record books in goals against average (2.14), and in shutouts (2)… His 13 wins are tied for third all-time in the College’s single season record book
Heating Up For The Playoffs: The Pioneers have scored five or more goals five times this season, including the regular season finale and Wednesday’s first round playoff game against Elmira … Shawn Lynch (Syracuse, NY/Ottawa Jr. Senators (CCHL)) has been on fire the last five games scoring all five of his points during that span … Lynch has two goals and three assists on the year … Trent Samuels-Thomas (West Hartford, CT/Omaha (USHL)) has also been on a tear scoring four of his seasons nine points in the last five games while Riley Egan (Lakewood, OH/Philadelphia (EHL)) has scored two of his three goals this season in the last two games, including the equalizer against Elmira on Wednesday tying it 2-2 early in the third period.
ECAC All-Conference: Freshmen classmates Hayden Dawes (Stony Plain, Alberta/Drayton Valley (AJHL)) and Michael Fredrick (Lethbridge, Alberta/Brooks Bandits (AJHL)) were named to ECAC West All-Conference teams on Tuesday … Dawes became the third Pioneer in program-history to earn the Conference’s Rookie of the Year award and he was also named to the ECAC West All-Rookie team … Fredrick was named to the All-Conference Second Team and was also an All-Rookie team selection.
Against The Valiants In The Post Season: UC is 2-3 all-time in the playoffs against Manhattanville with a 1-2 home record and a 1-1 away record … In the 2013-14 season Utica eliminated the Valiants 1-0 at home in the semifinals while in 2012-13 Manhattanville traveled to Utica and defeated the Pioneers 2-1 in overtime … In 2007-08 UC lost on the road 6-2 in the semifinals while in 2005-06 Utica won on the road 5-3 in the semifinals … The first time these two teams met in the playoff was in 2004-05 when Utica hosted the Valiants in the finals and lost 3-1.
Recently Against Manhattanville: The Pioneers went 2-1 against the Valiants in three meetings this season … Most recently, Utica beat Manhattanville 2-1 in overtime at the Utica Memorial Auditorium on Feb. 6, 2016 … The last time the Pioneers played at PlayLand back on Nov. 21, 2015, they lost to the Valiants 4-3.
Scouting Manhattanville: The Valiants are coming off of a first round bye as they finished the season second in the ECAC West with a 12-12-1 overall record and a 8-7-0 conference record … Manhattanville is 1-2 against UC this season but won the only game at the Playland Ice Casino … The Valiants are led by Stephen Gaul (23 points off of 14 goals and nine assists), Teagan Waugh and Nolan Marshall who both have 17 points off of five goals and 12 assists … In net for Manhattanville is Tyler Feaver who in 14 games played has a record of 7-6-1 … Feaver has 390 saves, a .888 save percentage, and a 3.43 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.
Watch From Home: To follow from home with live stats and video click on the links. http://www.govaliants.tv/ , http://www.sidearmstats.com/manhattanville/mhockey/.
