UTICA, NY – The No. 1 Utica University men’s hockey team will host King’s College this weekend for its final home series for the regular season. The teams will meet at 7 p.m. on Friday on AmeriCU Night before playing at 2 p.m. on Saturday for Northern Safety & Industrial Night.
Follow Along: Those unable to attend on Friday and/or Saturday can keep up with live video and/or stats through https://portal.stretchinternet.com/utica/.
Last Time Out: No. 1 Utica completed its home-and-home sweep of the Nazareth College Golden Flyers with a 4-1 road win last Saturday evening. The win moved the Pioneers to 14-0-0 in conference play while extending its lead in the standings to 10 points. Dante Zapata (Huntington Beach, CA/Austin Bruins (NAHL)) put together a three point performance in the win as the captain assisted on three of four Utica goals. He also controlled 13 of 22 faceoffs he took. The four goals also came from four different players in Khristian Acosta (Port Monmouth, NJ/Mercyhurst University (NCAA DI)), Jayson Dobay (Weymouth, MA/Youngstown Phantoms (USHL)), Mic Curran (Arlington, MA/Curry College (CCC)) and Jakob Breault (Acton Vale, QC/Alaska-Fairbanks (NCAA DI)). In goal, Bryan Landsberger (Montreal, Quebec/Nepean Raiders (CCHL)) saved 17 of 18 Golden Flyer shots including all six Nazareth power play attempts. Nazareth found itself in front midway through the first period on its fourth shot on goal of the frame at 11:40. Despite four shots and a power play thereafter, the Pioneers found themselves in a 1-0 deficit entering the second period. However, the team came out of the intermission with a spark as Acosta evened the game at 1:11 of the second thanks to a feed by Connor Fedorek (Bethel Park, PA/Ferris State University (NCAA DI)). The game remained even at 1-1 until Dobay gave Utica its first lead of the evening on a power play goal at 14:25 with Lucas Herrmann (Elma, NY/University of New Hampshire (NCAA DI)) and Zapata on the assists. The game would go into the final period with the Pioneers still ahead, 2-1. Not even one minute into the third, Curran extended the team’s lead to 3-1 while just over two minutes later, Breault put the finishing touches on the game with a power play goal at 3:03 to help lift Utica to its ninth straight win. The Pioneers held the Golden Flyers to 12 shots over the final two periods while also fending off the hosts on each of their four man-up advantages.
Game Sponsors: AmeriCU will be the presenting sponsor for Utica’s “Pink the Rink” game against King’s on Friday night. The team will be wearing special pink jerseys for this year’s AmeriCU Night game. The Pioneers are currently auctioning off their collector’s edition game jerseys from now until their game on February 3 at 7 p.m. You can bid on a jersey by sending an e-mail to Director of Hockey Operations Neil Trout (nctrout@utica.edu) with your name, address and amount you would like to bid. Fans can also bid on the jerseys on the day of the game at the Utica Memorial Auditorium beginning at 6 p.m. On Saturday, Northern Safety & Industrial will be the presenting sponsor of Utica’s 2 p.m. contest against King’s.
In the Polls: The Pioneers remained the No.1 team in the country in this week’s US College Hockey Online Men’s Top 15. The poll was released Monday by the national college hockey website. The team collected 295 points this week to remain at its spot at No.1 after receiving 288 points last week. Utica also received 15 out of 20 first place votes in this week’s poll. Utica extended its winning streak to nine games with a pair of wins over Nazareth College this weekend. On Jan. 27, No. 1 Utica came out on top against the Nazareth College Golden Flyers with a 6-1 home victory. The next day, the Pioneers beat the Golden Flyers 4-1 on the road in Rochester to complete the series sweep.
Where we Stand: No. 1 Utica finds itself at 16-2-1 overall and 14-0-0 in the UCHC while carrying a nine-game winning streak. Leading the UCHC with 40 points, Utica has all but locked up a postseason berth and with two wins this weekend, will essentially wrap-up its fifth consecutive outright UCHC title. This would mean for the fifth time in as many seasons in the UCHC, the postseason tournament will come through Utica with the Pioneers as the top-seed.
Captain Z: Dante Zapata (Huntington Beach, CA/Austin Bruins (NAHL)) was named the UCHC Player of the Week, as announced by the league on Monday. Zapata played a major role in No. 1 Utica’s offensive attack in its weekend sweep of Nazareth College. The senior totaled five points and went 23-13 on faceoff attempts over the course of the weekend. In Friday’s 6-1 win, Zapata sealed the game with an early third period goal after previously assisting on the team’s third goal of the game in the second period. He also won 10 of 14 faceoff attempts. On Saturday, Zapata assisted on three of Utica’s four goals while controlling 13 of 22 faceoffs he took.
Heating Up: There’s been no shortage of offensive production from a cast of characters who seemingly produce each night. For Remy Parker (Montclair, NJ/University of Maine (NCAA DI)), he actually has since the Thanksgiving Showcase. Parker has recorded at least one point in each game since Utica faced Trine on November 26, 2022 with totals of nine goals and six assists. Jayson Dobay (Weymouth, MA/Youngstown Phantoms (USHL)) enters the weekend on a six-game point streak while Dante Zapata (Huntington Beach, CA/Austin Bruins (NAHL)) has registered a point in five straight games, as has Jakob Breault (Acton Vale, QC/Alaska-Fairbanks (NCAA DI)). The team’s point leader, Mic Curran (Arlington, MA/Curry College (CCC)), had his point streak snapped last Friday against Nazareth however, he has still recorded at least one point in eight of nine games.
About King’s: The Monarchs will travel to Utica 4-12-2 overall and 3-9-1 in UCHC play. King’s has averaged just under two goals per game this season while its leading scores have been Casey Gerstein with seven, Kent Lee with six and Denys Arkhypenko with five. In goal, Ismael Ralsten and Tyler Sayger have split time between the pipes. Ralsten has started in a team-high 10 games and owns a 2-7-1 record while having allowed 3.72 goals per game and having made 347 saves. Sayger has made seven starts over his 13 appearances and has registered a 2-4-1 record to go with 3.25 goals allowed per game and 301 total saves.
The Series: Since the first-ever meeting between the UCHC opponents in December 2017, Utica has never lost to King’s. The Pioneers haven’t skidded their way to 8-0 all-time over the Monarchs either. Over the eight games, Utica has outscored King’s 61-6 including 33-2 over four home games.
Up Next: No. 1 Utica will travel to Reading, PA to face Alvernia University on Friday, February 10 and Saturday, February 11.
#34 Khristian Acosta F 5′ 9″ Senior Sports Management
#19 Mic Curran F 6′ 1″ Graduate Student Master of Business Administration
#5 Jayson Dobay D 6′ 0″ Junior Business Management
#1 Bryan Landsberger G 6′ 6″ Sophomore Psychology/Creative Writing
#22 Remy Parker F 6′ 3″ Senior Communications
#36 Dante Zapata F 6′ 1″ Senior Business Economics and Finance
#24 Jakob Breault F 5′ 11″ Junior Business Administration
#3 Connor Fedorek D 6′ 0″ Senior Business Management
#16 Lucas Herrmann F 6′ 3″ Senior Cybersecurity Players Mentioned
#34 Khristian Acosta 5′ 9″ Senior Sports Management F
#19 Mic Curran 6′ 1″ Graduate Student Master of Business Administration F
#5 Jayson Dobay 6′ 0″ Junior Business Management D
#1 Bryan Landsberger 6′ 6″ Sophomore Psychology/Creative Writing G
#22 Remy Parker 6′ 3″ Senior Communications F
#36 Dante Zapata 6′ 1″ Senior Business Economics and Finance F
#24 Jakob Breault 5′ 11″ Junior Business Administration F
#3 Connor Fedorek 6′ 0″ Senior Business Management D
#16 Lucas Herrmann 6′ 3″ Senior Cybersecurity F
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