UTICA, NY - The lead in the UCHC regular season title race hung in the balance on Friday night when two New York powerhouses met inside the Adirondack Bank Center. In a heavyweight matchup between the No. 2 Utica Pioneers and No. 4 Geneseo Knights, both teams looked to gain an edge over their respective counterparts, with the pair of top tier clubs tied atop the UCHC standings at 42 points apiece. In the first leg of this two-part tie, it was the Pioneers who scored three goals in the first eight minutes en route to a 4-0 win.
 
The game's defining moment actually came quite early in the matchup, as Utica managed to put two goals on the board before most fans were comfortably in their seats. Matt Wood put away the first score, giving the hosts a shock 1-0 lead less than two minutes into the showdown. Pioneer newcomer Collin Patterson then proceeded to light the lamp less than thirty seconds after that, produced a prolonged light show as the game was just beginning. Patterson linked up with fellow mid-season transfer Tio D'Addario on a two versus one breakaway, with the two sharing a line tonight and forming some good combination plays in the contest.
 
Recent star Shane Murphy then made it three before the midway point of the opening period, sending in a rocket from the slot to make it 3-0 after only eight minutes of play.
 
After this initial offensive things began to ratchet down for a little while, as the passage of play was quite even for the rest of the evening. Even so, Geneseo still found themselves down 3-0 late in the third period, necessitating a pulled goaltender to give the Knights one last chance at a comeback. Instead, it was Aiden Hughes who managed to corral the puck and put away the Knights in round one with an empty netter.
 
Wood, Patterson, Murphy, and Hughes were the Pioneer goal scorers in the matchup, with each player except Patterson also adding an assist in the action. Rounding out the Pioneer point-getters was D'Addario along with Ben Schultheis and John Gutt, with each player grabbing an assist. Pioneer captain Brian Scoville managed to grab two assists in the action, matching the trio of Wood, Murphy, and Hughes with all four players possessing a team high two points.
 
Ryan Piros got it done once again, improving to 9-0-1 as the Pioneers' goaltender and also picking up a signature win against one of Division III's top programs. Piros' shutout was his second of the year, and he notched 30 saves in the winning effort.
 
After the initial array of action, the game was played to nearly a standstill, with Geneseo recording 30 shots to the Pioneers' 31. One statistical area where the Pioneers excelled on the night was in blocked shots, as the hosts continuously tried to disrupt Geneseo's offensive flow, a feat they accomplished by sending skaters at all the Knights' puck handlers to stop numerous opportunities.
 
The Pioneers also took care of business on the penalty kill in Friday's matchup, taking advantage of a slower-paced Knight attack to keep the visitors at bay, converting four of a possible four penalty kills.
 
Save for the first few moments, the matchup was end to end and was also even for the mass majority of the contest.
 
With the win, Utica improved to 18-2-2 on the season, and 14-1-2 in conference play. They also lead Geneseo in the points standings by a 45-42 margin.
 
Both teams will look to solve the other first today with all the UCHC glory on the line as the two sides meet again, this time in Geneseo. Utica needs any winning result to secure the tiebreaker over the Knights, while the Knights absolutely have to have today's matchup to keep pace and continue their tiebreaker that they established early in the season.