UTICA, NY - The No. 1 Utica University men's ice hockey team opens its third consecutive appearance, and fourth appearance overall in the NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Championship Tournament on Saturday, March 18. Top-seeded Utica will host the ninth-seeded University of New England Nor'easters in a quarterfinal game at the Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.
Ticket Information: Tickets went on sale to the general public on Monday. They are $10.00 for adults and $6.00 for students with ID, seniors, and children 18 and under. Seats in Sections 103 and 117 are currently being held for the visiting team per NCAA policy, but may become available at a later date as demand permits. More information is available at https://uticapioneers.com/news/2023/3/10/mens-ice-hockey-no-1-mens-hockey-ncaa-quarterfinal-tickets-to-go-on-sale-for-general-public-on-monday-march-13th.aspx
A Note About Programs: Per NCAA Policy, programs for all NCAA Tournament games are to be in a digital-only format. No printed copies will be available. The official NCAA Championship Program features information on all twelve tournament teams, and is available at
https://www.ncaa.com/DIIIMensIceHockey
Follow Along: Live video and stats will be available at portal.stretchinternet.com/utica, and radio coverage will be available at WPNR 90.7 FM locally, and online at PioneerRadio.org. Ray Biggs '13 will lead coverage on both platforms.
On The Line: A trip to the semifinal round of the NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Championship Tournament to face the winner between Adrian and UW-Stevens Point on Friday, March 24th. The semifinals and finals will be held at a site to be announced on Friday, March 24th, and Sunday, March 26th. Advancement to the semifinals would mark the second such instance for either team in Saturday's matchup.
How We Got Here: Utica won the United Collegiate Hockey Conference postseason tournament championship for a second straight year, and fourth time overall on Saturday, March 11th. In a first-time championship matchup, the Pioneers overcame second-seeded Nazareth by a 5-3 score. Senior forward Dante Zapata scored two goals for the Pioneers and claimed the second UCHC Tournament MVP honor of his career. Kimball Johnson, Brandon Osmundson, and Buster Larsson also scored goals. Larsson led all point-getters with three points on a goal and two assists. Bryan Landsberger made 26 saves between the pipes. UNE advanced to this point with a 2-0 opening round win over Plymouth State. Ryan Kuzmich broke a 0-0 tie in the third period with the game-winning goal, while Chad Merrell iced the game with an empty net goal.
Utica's Tale of the Tape: The UCHC Champion Pioneers enter Saturday's game at 25-2-1, and earned a first round bye by virtue of standing as the top overall seed. The team is looking to add to history in a multitude of ways. The program seeks its second championship site appearance ten years after its first, and a 26th win along the way would set a new program record. The Pioneers are currently on a program-record 26 game unbeaten streak, and have won their last eighteen games for a program-best winning streak. Their average of 5.75 goals per game through the conference championship weekend ranked second in the country, with ten players standing in the top 100 nationally in points per game. The Pioneers are ranked seventh nationally in scoring defense at 1.86 goals allowed per game, and haven't allowed more than three goals in a game since January 7th. Utica sports the nation's second-ranked power play at 28.9 percent, and the Utica penalty kill is sitting at 86.1 percent, a figure that ranks 21st nationally.
UNE's Tale of the Tape: The Nor'easters are the ninth overall seed and made the tournament by way of one of the three Pool C at-large bids allocated for this year's championship field. This is their third NCAA tournament. They are one of three teams from the Commonwealth Coast Conference to make the 2023 tournament, and one of two playing in this week's quarterfinals. UNE holds a record of 20-6-2 overall and sports a wide range of returning players from last year's NCAA semifinalist team, which lost to Geneseo by an 8-3 score. Six players were recently named to the All-Commonwealth Coast Conference teams from UNE, headlined by first-team picks Jared Christy, Jake Fuss, and Alex Sheehy. UNE sports the nation's fifth-ranked scoring offense at 4.14 goals per game, and Saturday's visiting team is seventeenth nationally in scoring defense. On special teams, they hold the nation's eleventh-best power play percentage, while they sit just under 82 percent on the penalty kill for a 41st place national ranking.
Same Movie, Different Ending?: Time appears to be a flat circle in Utica's quadrant of the 2023 NCAA tournament bracket, but Utica would like a different result at the end of this year's quarterfinal. The Pioneers have once again earned a bye as the top-seeded Eastern team, and as in 2022, are set to host the winner of a first round game between Plymouth State and the University of New England in a quarterfinal at the Aud. Not to be outdone, the Pioneers enter this game with an identical record to last year. Where Utica will look to break the cycle, is in their results. In last year's game, UNE took a 1-0 lead on a short-handed goal by Daniel Winslow at 12:41 of the second period, then put the matchup to bed on a Tyler Seltenreich goal with 25 seconds left to win 2-0. UNE goaltender Billy Gerard IV made 38 saves, while the Pioneers were shut out for the first time in their NCAA tournament existence.
The All-Time Series: This will be the third meeting between Utica and UNE. The Nor'easters are 2-0 against the Pioneers, with both games taking place at Utica. The first meeting of the series happened in the 2016-17 season, with the University of New England winning 7-3 in a matchup that featured an overwhelming smorgasbord of power play opportunities for the visitors. The Nor'easters finished the night 5-of-15 on the power play as they pulled away in the third period. As referenced above, the teams met again in the quarterfinals of last year's tournament.
In NCAA Tournament Games: Utica is 1-2 all-time in three NCAA Tournament games played. They qualified for the tournament in 2013, 2020, 2022, and 2023. In 2013, they scored a 4-2 come-from-behind win over Bowdoin in the quarterfinals to advance to the national semifinals in Lake Placid. Captain Evan Chlanda had three assists, while Jordan Hobaica, Trever Hertz, Ridge Garbutt, and Eric Peterson combined to score Utica's four unanswered goals in the rally. Louie Educate scored the only goal of the team' semifinal appearance, a 5-1 loss to eventual national champion UW-Eau Claire. The Pioneers had their 2020 appearance halted due to pandemic-related cancellations. Utica was set to play the winner of Babson and Wesleyan before the tournament was canceled. In 2022, Utica fell to UNE in the quarterfinals. The Pioneers have out-shot the opposition in two out of three tournament games. They have not allowed a power play goal in their NCAA tournament but have allowed two shorthanded goals.
Utica vs. The Pine Tree State: This will be Utica's third time playing in an NCAA quarterfinal game. In all three opportunities to play, the Pioneers have matched up against an opponent from the state of Maine. The Nor'Easters are located in the coastal town of Biddeford. In their first tournament appearance in 2013, the Pioneers played host to the Bowdoin Polar Bears, located in the Central Maine community of Brunswick.
Up Front: The Pioneers have thirteen skaters with 20 points or more this season, and eleven of them are part of a dynamic group of forwards. Three of those forwards earned UCHC All-Conference honors for the 2022-23 season. Graduate student Mic Curran leads all Utica forwards and is tied for the team lead with 37 points on 12 goals and 25 assists. After earning second team All-UCHC honors this season, Curran will be in the unique position as the only skater in Saturday's game to win All-Conference honors in the conferences of both participating teams. He earned Commonwealth Coast All-Conference honors during his time at Curry College. His average of 1.37 points per game ranks 17th nationally, while he is also 11th nationally with 0.93 assists per game. Senior Remy Parker was a first team All-Conference pick this season and has scored a program-record 23 goals in a single season for the 2022-23 campaign. His 35 points are tied for third on the team alongside Lucas Herrmann. Parker also ranks third nationally with eight power play goals, a mark that led the UCHC this season. Senior forward Dante Zapata was a second team All-UCHC pick with 33 points on twelve goals and 21 assists this season. He has 114 career points. His average of 1.18 points per game this season ranks 44th nationally. Zapata, a 2022 AHCA All-American, is a three-time all-conference selection for his career. Other Pioneer forwards to rank in the top 100 nationally in points per game are Lucas Herrmann (30th, 1.25), Regen Cavanagh (67th, 1.07), Jakob Breault (69th, 1.04), and Buster Larsson (89th, 0.96).
On The Blue Line: The Pioneers sport a loaded blue line that features two 2022 All-Americans, two UCHC Defensive Players of the Year, and three players who have been named to the UCHC's 2023 All-Conference teams. While keeping every opponent since early January to three goals or less, Utica's defensive unit has also maintained its reputation as an elite group of puck-movers who can set up opportunities on offense. The Pioneers have four defensemen in the top 100 nationally in assists per game. 2023 UCHC Defensive Player of the Year Jayson Dobay leads the nation with 32 assists, he will set the program's new single season mark in that category with one more assist. Dobay has points in fourteen out of his last fifteen games, and has five assists in three playoff games. If he sets the assist record, he will inherit the honor from 2022 UCHC Defensive Player of the Year Justin Allen, who has come roaring back into the Pioneers' lineup despite missing a significant chunk of the season. Allen, the first and only 100 point career defenseman in program history, received first team All-UCHC honors for a third straight season. He is 36th nationally at 0.75 assists per game. Kimball Johnson has made his presence known enough to get second team All-UCHC honors in his first year with the program. Johnson is 22nd nationally in assists per game, and scored a goal in the UCHC title game for Utica. Connor Fedorek is tied with teammate Lucas Herrmann in assists per game, as he ranks 44th nationally at 0.71 assists per matchup.
Between The Pipes: Utica will likely turn to Bryan Landsberger between the pipes this weekend. The recently-minted first team All-Conference netminder leads the nation with 25 victories this season, which is also a new school record. He has started and been the goaltender of record in every decision for the Pioneers this season. Landsberger ranks 30th nationally in save percentage at 92.4 percent, and his goals against average of 1.81 ranks twelfth in the nation.
Shaking It Off: The Pioneers are a nearly-spotless 14-0-1 at home this season, and have not lost at the ADK Bank Center since last year's NCAA quarterfinal against this same UNE team.