ROCHESTER, NY - The No. 3 ranked Pioneer Men's Hockey team took a trip down the thruway on Friday night, their first of many, to begin UCHC play against Nazareth. The battle-tested Pioneers generated a 2-0 lead less than three minutes into the matchup. The Pioneers proceeded to push their advantage, scoring five goals in the second period and four goals in the third en route to a colossal 11-goal outburst to begin their UCHC campaign with a 11-4 victory over the Golden Flyers.
 
Vladislav Pshenichnikov achieved his first career hat trick in the matchup, putting together a solid four-point night with three goals and an assist. The stellar Sophomore topped a scoring chart that included eight names on Friday, an unbelievable volume of goal-scorers.
 
Also among the plethora of Pioneer goal-getters was John Gutt, who had himself a great outing with two goals and two assists, tying him with Pshenichnikov for the team-high in points with four.
 
Michael Herrera, Shane Murphy, Chris Carroll, Aiden Hughes, Alexander Gullichsen, and Preston Brighton also each nabbed a goal, with Herrera and Brighton also each adding an assist.
 
Rounding out the point-getters for the Pioneers was Ben Schultheis, Aydin Parekh, and Andrew Della-Rovere with two assists each, along with Drake Morse, Johnny Mulera, and Anthony Bax who each put in an assist during the contest. Matt Wood led the assist category though, finding assists number three, four, and five of the year to finish with three helpers
 
The game was relatively quiet when it came to penalties, as both teams produced only three total power plays. The Pioneers took advantage of their player-up advantages, converting both of their power play opportunities while also shutting down the lone Nazareth advantage.
 
The game was close early on in most of the other statistical categories, however the Pioneers enforced their will over the final 40 minutes of the match, ending with a 48-19 advantage on shots and 42 faceoff wins in 70 tries resulting in a 60% faceoff win rate.
 
 
Game Summary:
 
The Pioneers got on the board right away during Friday's action as Carroll led off the scoring with a hard-fought goal in front of the net. Wood had the puck behind the net initially, before passing it out to a defender in Schultheis near the blue line. Schultheis proceeded to fire the puck at the goal from long-distance, a move that got the Pioneers on the board during their series last weekend with then #3 Adrian. Schultheis' shot was corralled by Carroll directly in front of the net, and with a defender draped on him, Carroll proceeded to stretch his stick around the outstretched pad of the Golden Flyers' goaltender, netting a 1-0 lead for Utica within the first two minutes of play.
 
Shortly after play restarted, Gutt immediately followed up Carroll's first score with a tally of his own. Gutt's goal came as the result of a scramble around the net. The former Jr. Comets player found the score after a shot that was whipped in by Pshenichnikov. Gutt snagged the puck off of the goalkeeper's pad but found himself almost parallel to the post. The Junior Center disregarded the awkward angle and slammed home the puck anyways to extend the Pioneers lead, establishing a 2-0 gap in the blink of an eye.
 
Nazareth managed to score before the first period buzzer, finding a long-range shot right after a long stoppage of play to cut the Pioneers deficit to 2-1 heading into the intermission.
 
The first period was fairly level despite the early fireworks from the Pioneers, ending with neither team earning any penalty minutes despite a few board-shaking hits by both teams. Utica led in the shots on goal department with a 14-9 margin through 20 minutes and the faceoff numbers were even at 11 apiece.
 
It didn't take long for the penalty drought to be broken though, as the Pioneers got their first chance at a power play just two minutes into the second period. Utica, who was 2-for-6 with a man advantage to start the season, saw a couple good opportunities in front of net. Schultheis once again had an eye for net, firing in another slapshot from just outside the slot. This time it was Herrera who grabbed the loose puck off of the boards, sending in a shot across the face of goal which drew net to restore the Pioneers' two-goal lead.
 
The Golden Flyers responded quickly, once again clawing to within one-goal in the early stages of the second period.
With the Golden Flyers hot on their heels, the powerful Pioneers offense continued to pile on pressure, with Wood finding reigning UCHC Player of the Week Murphy for a very familiar looking goal to once again push the gap to two. The play between Wood and Murphy mimicked the game-winner that the two attackers engineered in the Pioneers season-opener last weekend, with Wood sending the puck across the ice and finding Murphy for a back post finish.
 
Mere minutes after the score from Murphy, the Pioneers exploited a line change from the hosts, making it five goals before the midway point of the match, as Mulera sped into the heart of the Nazareth defense before exchanging possession with Gullichsen who fooled the Golden Flyer defense to make it 5-2.
 
Nazareth once again stole a score, taking advantage of a scrum in front of the net to score their third goal of the game.
 
Utica's offense would not be deterred though, as they continued to shed off the Golden Flyers' comeback efforts, with Pshenichnikov logging his first score of the season, finding space in-between the Nazareth goalkeeper's pads for another score. The Pioneers continued their second period scoring showcase, with Brighton finishing another cross-ice pass from Wood for his first goal of the season and the visitors' fifth goal in a scoring-stuffed middle-20.
 
The second period of play saw a combined seven goals from both teams as the Pioneers took a 7-3 edge into the final period.
 
A relatively penalty-free game saw it's second penalty call to start the third period, with the Pioneers getting an early power play. Pshenichnikov quickly became the Pioneers' first multi-goal scorer of the contest, finding a Gutt slapshot off of the boards and sending in on the left post for an 8-3 lead. The Sophomore attacker wasn't done though, as he secured the Pioneers' first hat trick of 24-25 moments later off of some quick passing from Gutt and Herrera. Pshenichnikov also acquired the first hat trick of his career, with his previous game-high being a two-goal outing against Wilkes last season.
 
Two more scores on the rush from Gutt and Hughes ended the proceedings, sending the Pioneers to a lopsided 11-4 finish, the Pioneers first double-digit scoring outing since February of 2023 when they defeated Manhattanville in the UCHC Semifinals by an 11-0 margin.
 
Utica will run it back tomorrow against the Golden Flyers, with the Pioneers playing host this time around. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM at The Adirondack Bank Center.