The United Collegiate Hockey Conference announced its 2021-22 Men’s Award Winners and All-Conference teams on Wednesday, March 2. The award winners were selected through a thorough survey of the league’s ten head coaches.

UCHC regular season champion Utica University, who is set to host Wilkes University in the league championship game on March 5, garnered three of the five individual award winners and six all-conference selections.
 
Utica junior forward Dante Zapata was named the 2021-22 UCHC Player of the Year. A native of Huntington Beach, CA, Zapata is 10th nationally in points per game, averaging 1.56. He has 16 goals and 26 assists for 42 points in 27 games. Zapata is among the national leaders with eight power-play tallies, is plus-19 and has won 68.4 percent of his face-offs taken. Zapata has 21 points (8-13-21) over his last nine games played. He is the third different Utica student-athlete to earn UCHC Player of the Year honors, joining Roman Ammirato (2017-18) and Conor Landrigan (2019-20 and 2020-21).

Stevenson’s Ryan Kenny was named the UCHC Goaltender of the Year and All-UCHC first team accolades. He has enjoyed a tremendous junior season for the Mustangs, leading all UCHC netminders with 18 wins, while recording a 2.39 goals against average and a .925 save percentage to go along with a pair of shutouts. Kenny made at least 30 saves in 11 contests this season. He is now 43-15-4 in three seasons between the pipes for Stevenson.

Neumann’s Nick Martino was named the conference’s Rookie of the Year. Martino has had an excellent rookie season for the Knights, as he currently sits third among all first-year players in Division III on a per game basis at 1.50 points per game. That figure also sits 12th nationally among all skaters. He has 39 points this season on 15 goals and 24 assists.

Utica’s Justin Allen was selected as the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year for the 2021-22 season. He becomes the third Pioneer to win UCHC Defensive Player of the Year alongside All-Americans Dalton Carter (2017-18) and Daniel Frtiz (2019-20). Allen leads all Division III defensemen with 30 assists and 38 points. He is second among all blueliners in points per game at an average of 1.41 per contest. He is also a team-best plus-34 this season.

Utica head coach Gary Heenan was named the Conference’s Coach of the Year by his peers for the second time. Heenan has led the Pioneers to the best regular season in their 21-year history. He has piloted the team to a No. 2 ranking in the latest USCHO.com Division III national poll, current record of 24-2-1, and a 17-0-1 record in conference play (53 of 54 possible points). The Pioneers won the UCHC regular season title for a fifth straight year. Utica, which is riding an 18-game unbeaten streak, has advanced to the conference championship game for the fourth time in five seasons.
 
Donald Flynn of Wilkes was named to the first team for the third consecutive season, while he earned all-conference honors for the fourth consecutive season. Allen was an All-UCHC first team pick for the second straight year. Fellow Utica standouts Zapata, Buster Larsson and Regen Cavanagh joined Allen on the first team.

The full list of UCHC award winners is listed below.
 
2021-22 UCHC Men's Ice Hockey Award Winners
Player of the Year: Dante Zapata, Utica
Rookie of the Year: Nick Martino, Neumann
Goaltender of the Year: Ryan Kenny, Stevenson
Defensive Player of the Year: Justin Allen, Utica
Coach of the Year: Gary Heenan, Utica

First Team All-UCHC
Forward: Buster Larsson, Utica
Forward: Regen Cavanagh, Utica
Forward: Donald Flynn. Wilkes
Forward: Dante Zapata, Utica
Defense: Justin Allen, Utica
Defense: Jayson Dobay, Utica
Goaltender: Ryan Kenny, Stevenson

Second Team All-UCHC
Forward: Tyler Barrow, Wilkes
Forward: Nick Martino, Neumann
Forward: Brandon Osmundson, Utica
Defense: Taylor Brierley, Wilkes
Defense: Michael Gurska, Wilkes
Goaltender: Nico Pidro, Wilkes

All-Rookie Team
Forward: Nick Martino, Neumann
Forward: Jack Cooper, King’s
Forward: Artem Mateichenko, Manhattanville
Defense: Zack Conner, Chatham
Defense: Aidan Graham, Stevenson
Goaltender: Ty Franchi, Lebanon Valley
 
ABOUT THE UNITED COLLEGIATE HOCKEY CONFERENCE
The United Collegiate Hockey Conference is a collaborative effort between eleven institutions to provide a competitive environment and structure for NCAA Division III men's and women's ice hockey in the Eastern United States. Our membership encompasses a wide geographic area spanning from Central and Western New York to the greater Pittsburgh and Baltimore areas. In its fifth season, the UCHC will incorporate the efforts of ice hockey student-athletes from Arcadia University, Alvernia University, Chatham University, King's College, Lebanon Valley College, Manhattanville College, Nazareth College, Neumann University, Stevenson University, Utica College, and Wilkes University into their strong, but evolving membership that strives for on-ice excellence while also preparing student athletes for their off-ice futures. For more on the UCHC, visit the league's homepage at http://www.TheUCHC.com, or follow the league on Twitter at http://www.Twitter.com/UCHCHockey.