WILKES-BARRE, PA - The No. 3 Utica University men's hockey team defeats the King's College Monarchs 7-0 on Saturday afternoon. The Pioneers improve to 16-2-3 overall and 15-0-1 in UCHC) and hold a five-point lead in the league standings with four games remaining.
 
Matt Wood (1g, 2a) and John Gutt (2g, 1a) each tallied three points. Brian Scoville(0g,2a), Kimball Johnson (1g, 1a), Eric Vitale (0g, 2a) and Jakob Breault (2g, 0a) had two points each. Ethan Roberts started in net for Utica, collecting 14 saves and his tenth win of the season. Vladislav Pshenichnikov and Scoville recorded five shots each, followed by Vitale and Acosta with four. 14 other players on Utica had at least one shot on net. 
 
King's College goaltender Tyler Sayger got the start in net for the Monarchs, collecting seven saves in the first seven minutes of action.  With 10:23 left in the first period, Utica went on its power play as Matt Metsa was called for hooking. The Pioneers had a great scoring chance on their power play with 7:24 left in the period, but Sayger was there to push the puck aside. Just under two minutes left in the period, John Gutt and Shane Murphy assisted Matt Wood, who notched the first goal to put the Pioneers up 1-0. Wood's goal would send Utica into the second period up by one. 
 
Both teams combined for 19 shots on goal, 15 for Utica, and four for King's. Utica goaltender Ethan Roberts tallied four saves while Sayher collected 14. 
 
Utica's John Gutt registered the first goal in the second period with just under 13:30 left to play.  Only 10 minutes later, Aiden Hughes found Chris Carroll, who notched his third goal of the season, extending Utica's lead to 3-0. It didn't take long for Utica to strike again; just under 17 minutes to play, Kimball Johnson found the back of the net, giving Utica a 4-0 lead with an assist credited to Preston Brighton. The teams would head into the third period with Utica up 4-0. 
 
Only 28 seconds into the third period, Utica struck first as Brian Scoville and Eric Vitale found  Jakob Breault, who tallied Utica's fifth goal of the game, going up 5-0. The Pioneers recorded their sixth goal shortly after as John Gutt scored with just under three minutes into the period, extending the lead to 6-0. Gutt has now registered nine points in three games. Shortly after, with 17 minutes to play, Breault notched his second goal of the game with assists credited to Vitale and Johnson.
 
Utica hosts Alvernia University on Friday, February 9 and Saturday, February 10. Both games are set for 7 p.m. puck drop at the Adirondack Bank Center.