UTICA, NY - The No. 5 Utica University men's hockey team (13-2-3, 12-0-1 UCHC) earned a shutout victory over the Nazareth Golden Flyers on Friday night, blanking its UCHC foe 7-0. Tonight's victory extended Utica's winning streak to 15 games over Nazareth.
Shane Murphy starred in the victory, leading the team with a hat-trick and an assist. Matt Wood, Brian Scoville, Eric Vitale, and Khristian Acosta rounded out the scoring. John Gutt, Matt Wood, Kimball Johnson and Brian Scoville each had two assists while Griffen Barr, Dante Spagnuolo, Eric Vitale and Khristian Acosta had one apiece as well.
Bryan Landsberger was perfect in his fifth start in net this season, making 26 saves while not allowing a goal. The junior has been incredible between the pipes, registering a .963 save percentage on the year after tonight's efforts. Landsberger now has two shutouts on the season.
Four minutes into the game, Shane Murphy was called for tripping and Utica entered its first penalty kill of the night. The team's fortitude amidst this 4-on-5 stretch set the tone for the game as Nazareth didn't register a single shot on goal.
After fending off the Golden Flyers during their two minute advantage, Murphy shot out of the penalty box and avenged himself, netting the first goal of the night on a beautiful shot from the right wing. Just a minute after Murphy's score, Acosta found himself on a breakaway where he would make a stunning move to get the goalie out of position and score from close range, giving the team a two goal lead.
Acosta would find himself wide open in front of the net again later in the period, but was tripped by a Nazareth defender determined to not let the same result happen again.
Halfway through the period, Nazareth still hadn't managed to get a shot on net with Utica controlling the majority of the possession. They would manage to get seven shots up in the 10 remaining minutes in the first, but couldn't manage to find the back of the net.
After beginning the second period in a penalty kill, Nazareth would hold off Utica for the first two minutes. Seconds after they returned to full strength, they would leave Scoville with far too much room to operate as the senior fired a deep shot past Nazareth's Raphael Provencher to make it a three-goal lead.
Utica would proceed to outshoot Nazareth 15-8 in the period, with neither team notching another goal in the frame. The Pioneers best chance came in the final minute of the second where Alexander Gullichson had only the goalie to beat but was ultimately denied by a great save.
The Pioneers held a comfortable 3-0 lead entering the third, but certainly kept their foot on the gas in the closing period.
Once again, Utica struck in the opening minutes of the frame as John Gutt intercepted a pass in front of the Nazareth goal, setting up Shane Murphy for his second goal of the night. Utica continued to dominate possession of the puck as Dante Spagnuolo would set Eric Vitale up for a score, advancing his goal streak to three games now.
The onslaught continued thanks to Shane Murphy's tenacious play. Murphy led a 3-on-1 chance for the Pioneers and set Matt Wood up for the team's sixth goal of the night. The junior would keep being aggressive, achieving his first career hat-trick after sniping a shot off a rebound for his third goal of the contest.
The No. 5 ranked Pioneers will travel to Rochester, NY for another matchup against Nazareth tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m.