RYE, NY - What a night it was for Pioneer hockey. After 19 UCHC matchups during this current season, it came down to conference contest number 20 to decide the regular season champion between the Pioneers and the Geneseo Knights. The Ice Knights, who possessed a tiebreaker over Utica, needed only a win to secure their spot as the number one seed. However, thanks to some heroics from a Nazareth team led by Head Coach George Roll in his regular season swan song, the door was left ajar as the Knights fell by a 7-4 final over in Rochester. With home ice throughout the playoffs up for grabs, Johnny Mulera would be the one to seize the opportunity for the Pioneers, striking for a fifth time this season against a Manhattanville group which he dominated all year long and securing a game winner to bring the Pioneers their ninth-straight regular season title with a 3-2 win.
 
With time ticking down in the second period and the game knotted at two apiece, Mulera found himself with a golden opportunity in his ideal situation, slotting away a power play goal from the left side to give Utica a huge 3-2 lead heading into the final period. The graduate student, who will be playing in his first UCHC Tournament during the coming weeks, made sure that he would have the chance to experience a championship atmosphere as he sent the Pioneers to the number one seed. Thanks to the Maryland man's wicked wrister, the UCHC Tournament will run through the Adirondack Bank Center this season, with the Pioneers achieving yet another regular season title.
 
Matt Wood and Colby Jaquet were the other scorers on the evening for the Pioneers, with the latter achieving his first career goal just one night after tallying his first collegiate assist. Jaquet, who has only appeared in a handful of games for the Pioneers since his winter break transfer from the USports ranks, had an excellent weekend against the Valiants as he completed a core of winter break transfers who have finally cemented their respective roles within the Pioneer gameplan.
 
Collin Patterson, one such transfer, pumped in a playmaker on the night, getting on the scoresheet alongside John Gutt, Aydin Parekh, and Alexander Gullichsen who all each added an assist in the action.
 
Another major piece of the core four piloted his 13th start in-between the pipes for the Pioneers tonight, with freshman sensation Ryan Piros picking up yet another victory to add to his already stacked record which now stands at 11-1-1 since first suiting up for the squad at the onset of 2025. Piros picked up 23 saves on the evening, also aiding in two successful penalty kill efforts to vanquish the Valiants' pair of opportunities on the advantage.
 
Not only did the Pioneers as a unit limit their opponents advances during their two player-up chances, but they also outshot them by a 39-25 margin to keep up their status as one of the most high-volume shooting teams in all of Division III. The Pioneers also excelled on the draw in the contest, thanks to the trio of Jakob Breault, Gabriel Lundberg, and last night's game winning goal-getter Andrew Della Rovere. The trio of devastating draw dominators managed to collectively capture 35 of their 46 total faceoff attempts for a 76% faceoff win rate. This certainty within the circle allowed the team to control the flow of the game and stave off the Valiants during the latter stages of the matchup.
 
Thanks to their early scoring and late game stonewalling, the Pioneers managed to get away from Rye with a 3-2 win and the conference's regular season crown.
 
Utica improved to 20-3-2 with the win, moving to 16-2-2 in UCHC play and finishing the regular season with a point total of 51, three higher than their rival Geneseo.
 
Thanks to their 51 points, the Pioneers claim home ice for the UCHC playoffs. The team will have a first-round bye, automatically advancing to the UCHC Semifinal round. Their semifinal matchup will be determined after the first round which takes place this coming Wednesday, February 26th. The Pioneers will then host the semifinal round next Saturday, March 1st at the Adirondack Bank Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM.

Grab your tickets for the semifinal matchup here: https://empirestatetix.evenue.net/events/UCP
 
Pioneer Scoring Summary:
1st Period | 4:14 | Jaquet (Gutt, Gullichsen) - 1-0 Utica
2nd Period | 4:41 | Wood - 2-0 Utica
2nd Period | 18:52 | Mulera (Parekh, Patterson) - 3-2 Utica