Photo credit: Scott Kinville/315 Hockey.
By Scott Kinville/315 Hockey.
The fourteenth ranked Utica Pioneers Women’s Hockey Team (5-1-1 overall, 5-0-1 UCHC) will see a familiar face when they host the Morrisville Mustangs (2-7-1 overall, 0-5-0 NEWHL) on Tuesday night. Morrisville head coach Melissa Lomanto played her college hockey at Utica under Pioneers head coach Dave Clausen, graduating in 2005 after a standout playing career with Pioneers. After graduation, she joined Clausen’s staff as an assistant coach for three seasons. She became the head coach at Morrisville in 2014 and has been the only head coach the program has ever had.
Tuesday night will not be the first time Clausen and Lomanto have faced each other as head coaches. During Lomanto’s time at Morrisville, she met her former coach eight times and won three of those meetings. The Mustangs and Pioneers last met on December 7th, 2021, with Utica winning by a margin of 1-0 on a third-period goal by Carly Stefanini.
This season, the Mustangs have struggled but have been playing better as of late. Last Tuesday they held the then fifteenth ranked Hamilton College Continentals to three goals, although they would get only one goal for themselves. The Mustangs won the last game tthey played, an impressive 4-0 shutout at Lebanon Valley on Sunday.
The Pioneers are not struggling, having won four straight games and rising to fourteen from fifteen in the latest USCHO poll that came out on Monday. They lead all of Division III in goals per game with 6.29, and are fifth overall in goals against per game with 0.71. The special teams play has been outstanding for Utica as well. They are ranked eighth in Division III on the power play, and have only given up one power play goal this season – and none in six straight games.
Let’s take a look at how Utica Pioneers and Morrisville Mustangs match up against each other.
Utica Pioneers Team Offense
Goals For: 44.
Goals For Per Game: 6.3.
Shots: 346.
Shots Per Game: 49.4.
Power Play: 29.4% (5 for 17).
Morrisville Mustangs Team Offense
Goals For: 17.
Goals For Per Game: 1.7.
Shots: 264.
Shots Per Game: 26.4
Power Play: 21.2% (7 for 33).
Utica Pioneers Top Five Scorers
1.) Erica Sloan: 7 goals + 5 assists = 12 points.
2.) Georgianna Santullo: 5 goals + 7 assists = 12 points.
3.) Carly Stefanini: 1 goal + 9 assists = 10 points.
4.) Maggie Rylot: 5 goals + 2 assists = 7 points.
5.) Hailey Modlin: 3 goals + 4 assists = 7 points, Abby Lillis: 2 goals + 5 assists = 7 points.
Erica Sloan leads the Pioneers in shots with 35.
Morrisville Mustangs Top Five Scorers
1.) Allie Davidson: 5 goals + 1 assist = 6 points.
2.) Allicen Bouchard: 2 goals + 4 assists = 6 points.
3.) Kate Mabey: 1 goal + 4 assists = 5 points.
4.) Pippy Pritchard: 3 goals + 1 assist = 4 points.
5.) Kendra Johnston: 1 goal + 3 assists = 4 points.
Hailee Easson leads the Mustangs in shots with 41.
Utica Pioneers Team Defense
Goals Against: 5.
Goals Against Per Game: 0.7.
Shots Allowed: 130.
Shots Allowed Per Game: 18.6.
Penalty Kill: 95.5% (21 for 22).
Morrisville Mustangs Team Defense
Goals Against: 36.
Goals Against Per Game: 3.6.
Shots Allowed: 365.
Shots Allowed Per Game: 36.5.
Penalty Kill: 81.2% (26 for 32).
Utica Pioneers Goaltending
Angela Hawthorne has a record of 4-1-1 with a 0.95 GAA, a 0.958 save percentage, and one shutout.
Lauryn Brown has a record of 0-0-0, with a 0.00 GAA, a 1.000 save percentage, and 5 saves in 27:29 of ice time.
Breese Burlingame has a record of 0-0-0, with a 0.00 GAA, a 1.000 save percentage, and 3 saves in 49:21 of ice time.
Maddie Esposito has a record of 1-0-0, with a 0.00 GAA, a 1.000 save percentage, and 4 saves in 30:38 of ice time.
Morrisville Mustangs Goaltending
Emma Plett has a record of 0-5-1, with a 5.27 GAA, and a 0.869 save percentage.
Maggie Jones has a record of 1-2-0 with a 2.22 GAA, and a 0.942 save percentage.
Elizabeth Timby has a record of 1-0-0, with a 0.84 GAA, and a 0.929 save percentage.
Tuesday night’s game will be played at the Adirondack Bank Center in Utica and is scheduled to start at 7 pm EST. For more information about Utica Pioneers hockey, visit https://uticapioneers.com. For more information about Morrisville Mustangs hockey, visit https://morrisvillemustangs.com.
