UTICA, NY - In their quest to secure a third straight conference tournament title, and a fifth in the last seven years, the No. 2 Utica University Men's Ice Hockey team (22-2-3) turned to its power play to secure its date with destiny in the United Collegiate Hockey Conference Championship with a 4-0 win over fourth-seeded Alvernia University in semifinal action on Saturday night.
Top-seeded Utica unloaded three power play goals on fourth-seeded Alvernia, and netminder Ethan Roberts secured a second consecutive postseason shutout as the Pioneers prevailed 4-0 at the Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.
The win sets up a matchup with second-seeded Stevenson for the 2024 United Collegiate Hockey Conference championship. Stevenson defeated third-seeded Wilkes by a 4-3 score in overtime in their semifinal game. The higher seed is 6-0 in this year's tournament games.
The Pioneers improve their record to 22-2-3 and have won sixteen consecutive games heading into the conference final. Alvernia finishes with a final overall record of 13-12-2 to cap their final season as a United Collegiate Hockey Conference member.
Utica was led by a 3-for-6 outing on the power play on the night, with Chris Carroll, Matt Wood, and Aiden Hughes tallying goals for the Pioneers in that phase of the game. Alexander Gullichsen added an empty net goal to help seal the deal for Utica.
Roberts finished with 30 saves to blank the visitors. Alvernia netminder Jackson Fellner made 46 saves in the loss for the Golden Wolves.
The Pioneers out-shot the Golden Wolves by a 50-30 margin, and were impressive on faceoffs by winning 48 of 63 draws. Senior forward Jakob Breault was a faceoff magician, winning a simply brilliant 26 faceoffs in 28 appearances.
Breault and senior classmate Brian Scoville had two assists each.
Carroll put the Pioneers in the drivers' seat at 8:54 of the first period when he canned a rebound for his first of the postseason and third of the year. Scoville and Khristian Acosta added the assists as Utica led 1-0 after 20 minutes on the power play marker.
The lead doubled, then tripled on two man-advantage tallies in the second. Matt Wood scored at 3:04 of the second period, and Aiden Hughes netted a power play goal of his own on the rush at 5:47, and the Pioneers enjoyed a somewhat comfortable 3-0 lead through two periods. Alexander Gullichsen finished the job with an empty net goal in the third period to help lift the Pioneers to their seventh conference final in a nine year period, a run that dates back to their membership in the former ECAC West.
Utica has won eight consecutive conference tournament games.