UTICA, NY - The No. 4 Utica University men's hockey team made a statement against NCAA Division I Stonehill College in Friday's 19th annual New York Sash Teddy Bear Toss. After going down 1-0 early, Utica dominated the rest of the night. Drake Morse and Eric Vitale starred in the matchup, as Morse paced the offense with a hat-trick and an assist while Vitale scored the teddy bear toss goal and added two assists in the team's 7-2 win over the Skyhawks. 
 
Jakob Breault and Brian Scoville each provided three points with a goal and pair of assists. Aiden Hughes rounded out the scoring with one goal. Kimball Johnson and Khristian Acosta dished out two assists, and Griffen Barr added one. 
 
Ethan Roberts and Bryan Landsberger split the duties between the pipes. Roberts made 12 saves and Landsberger totaled 16.
 
On a night with lots of energy in the crowd, the Pioneers came out attacking, winning the opening faceoff and challenging the Stonehill goalie, Dylan Meilun, early. However, just a minute in, Stonehill intercepted the puck and found the back of the net on their first shot attempt of the night.
 
Despite going down 1-0 early, Utica continued its history of scoring early in the teddy bear toss game, tying the score at one apiece at the 7:58 mark. Freshman Eric Vitale scored the first goal, carving his name into this great holiday tradition with the opening score of the contest. Vitale's score erupted the crowd and thousands of teddy bears onto the ice. The goal came by deflecting a rifling shot from Kimball Johnson past Dylan Meilun.  
 
Stonehill would proceed to put itself behind the eight ball in the upcoming minutes. A series of penalties gave the Pioneers a 5-on-3 power play in which they would take a 2-1 lead. Khristian Acosta set Brian Scoville up for a beautiful one-timer goal at the 12:14 mark. 
 
In the closing minute of the first frame, Drake Morse would tack on another one to up the Pioneers lead to 3-1. Kimball Johnson provided his second assist of the night along with Eric Vitale. 
 
Morse struck again in the second period, scoring the lone goal of the frame for Utica. Jakob Breault tallied his second assist of the contest on the score. 
 
Aiden Hughes would later steal the puck in the neutral zone and draw a penalty on a breakaway chance. He would seize the moment and ignite the crowd, scoring the fifth goal of the night via penalty shot. 
 
In the closing minute of the second, Devin Carlstrom sniped a shot past Bryan Landsberger bringing the score to 5-2 to stop the Pioneers' string of five unanswered goals. 
 
After assisting on two goals earlier on, Jakob Breault wanted one of his own. The senior faked out the goalie with a hesitation before providing the sixth Utica score of the night on a brilliant shot. 
 
Drake Morse later notched another goal to give himself the hat-trick, scoring off a rebound with three minutes remaining in the third, bringing the lead to 7-2. 
 
The No. 4 ranked Pioneers (6-1-3, 5-0-1 UCHC) will travel to Oswego to take on the Oswego State Lakers on Saturday, December 9 for its final game before the semester break. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.