UTICA, NY - On a lively Saturday night at the Adirondack Bank Center, the crowd was treated to a tense tussle between two fierce conference opponents as the #2 Pioneers welcomed Manhattanville for the second of two meetings in their UCHC weekend series. In a rough affair between the two New York based programs, it was the Pioneers and sudden superstar stopper Ryan Piros who emerged victorious, as the freshman goalie stunted the Valiants at every turn, coming away with his first career shutout in a big 1-0 win to keep Utica in the race for the UCHC's regular season crown.
 
Piros produced a perfect performance in net last night, registering 31 saves in what ended up being the Pioneers' first shutout victory of the season. The new netminder got it done with every tool at his disposal, as he emptied the arsenal to vanquish the Valiants with a variety of pad, glove, and stick saves.
 
Piros was able to achieve his shutout victory thanks in large part to power play extraordinaire Johnny Mulera, who got his second man-up score in as many nights, proving a massive thorn in the side of an otherwise untouched Valiant penalty kill to grab Saturday's game winning goal. Mulera was found by Aydin Parekh and Drake Morse, two players who each picked up an assist on the play.
 
The Pioneers had plenty of other chances to push one across on a power play, as the Valiants were sent to the box six times on Saturday, with five of them giving Utica a player advantage. Some unlucky bounces and top-tier gameplay from the other netminder in the matchup cause Utica to remain silent save for Mulera's big moment.
 
The Pioneers outshot Manhattanville 48-31, getting lots of looks on their five power play opportunities but only managing to land a single attempt. However, thanks to the play of their young goaltender, one was more than enough for the Pioneers to claim a couple big points to stay neck-and-neck with the Geneseo Knights near the top of the UCHC.
 
The Pioneers grabbed their 12th win of the season, improving to 12-2-1 on the season and 8-1-1 in UCHC play. They sit just a single point behind Geneseo in the standings.
 
Game Summary: The rugged and methodical pace of last night's matchup carried over into Saturday night's showdown, with both teams bringing a physical and gritty style of game to the Aud on what was AmeriCU night in Utica.
 
The Pioneers owned the first power play of the matchup, going on an early advantage and getting out to a large lead in the shot column after their high-volume gameplay during the first of many man-up moments for the hosts.
 
Utica continued to dominate the even strength passage of play, constantly firing a barrage of attempts at the former Utica Jr. Comet netminder Sebastian Woods over the latter half of the first 20 minutes. .
 
At the end of the opening period, despite the Pioneers having a 21-9 lead in shots on goal, the game remained knotted at 0 apiece just like it had the night before.
 
With a tough and physical battle ahead of them, the Pioneers looked to feed off an energetic Adirondack Bank Center crowd and enforce their will a bit heading into the second period.
 
Piros was the first Pioneer to up his physicality during the game's middle period, as the Pioneer newcomer accrued a trio of showstopping saves to keep the Valiants off the board. Piros' middle save was a work of art, as he snatched the puck directly off the stick of a wide-open Valiant attacker to deny the visitors on the doorstep.
 
Woods was great on the other end though, stopping all of the Pioneers initial opportunities in the second period to get himself into a groove and establish a true blinking contest between him and the Pioneers' stopper Piros.
 
Cafarelli managed to get out on the breakaway, putting himself in the same exact position which saw him record his first collegiate goal just one night earlier. This time though, the freshman's backhand chance was smothered by Woods, with Cafarelli failing to fool the Valiant netminder this time around.
 
The game remained deadlocked at zero passing the midway point of the matchup, with 10 minutes remaining in the second period and both teams still looking for a momentum-shifting play.
 
Shortly after the 10-minute mark of the middle period, the masses began to rise once again as the Pioneers began their second power play of the night thanks to a blindside check by a Manhattanville attacker.
 
On their second power play of the night, Mulera struck, tormenting the Valiant penalty kill for the second-straight night. The Pioneers' penalty play specialist scored from nearly the same spot as the previous game, ripping a shot from his favored left side and seeing the puck skitter across the goal line after initially being slowed by Woods. Parekh also collected his 15th assist of the season on the play, finding Mulera in his most dangerous spot and maintaining his status as one of the top assist-getters in all of Division III.
 
After a light show along the boards courtesy of the new dasher screens, play restarted with Utica now up 1-0.
 
The game began to get chippy quickly after the restart, as five periods of play between these two rivals in less than 24 hours began to take its toll, with each team sending a player to the box due to some post-whistle shenanigans.
 
The combative nature of the matchup continued forward, as both teams battled over the final five minutes of the second period.
 
Utica's up-tempo nature continued to draw the attention of their opposition, as Manhattanville sent the Pioneers to their 3rd power play with time expiring in the second period.
 
The Pioneers led 1-0 entering the final period of play, a period which began with Manhattanville completing their second successful penalty kill of the night. However, just as one door closed, another opened for the hosts with the visiting Valiants immediately earning another penalty.
 
The Valiants though, managed to once again stop Mulera and the Pioneer power play, surviving a penalty-ridden first five minutes of the third period to keep the game at 1-0.
 
The game's next entry of note occurred with around nine minutes remaining in regulation, as Piros once again stonewalled a slew of Manhattanville attempts in front of net, handling a few rebounds well to once again stall the Valiants' attack.
 
Utica had a prime opportunity to create a two-goal gap with about six minutes remaining, as Wood got out on the rush with only the goaltender to beat. It was the crossbar that denied the Pioneers' leading point-gatherer on the season though, as the threatening attacker saw his shot bounce sky-high after hitting the top pipe.
 
Another huge opening presented itself shortly after, with Utica gaining its 5th power play of the evening, getting a man-up opportunity with just four minutes left in the game.
 
Searching for the dagger, the Pioneers produced a variety of looks in front of the Valiant goal, striking the pads of Woods on repeat as they fell shot at every turn. The two-minute spell came and went with the score still 1-0 in favor of the hosts as the game entered the final two minutes of regulation.
 
Manhattanville vacated their goal with just over a minute left, with Utica just narrowly missing an open goal opportunity to begin the visitors' pseudo-power play.
 
After alternating timeouts, the final push for Manhattanville was underway. Some mishandles in the neutral zone caused the clock to dip under 10 seconds, and after an icing call, the Valiants' clock struck midnight, with the Piros' Pioneers coming away with another huge UCHC win to keep pace with Geneseo near the top of the conference standings.