The United Collegiate Hockey Conference announced its 2024-25 Men’s Award Winners and All-Conference teams on Wednesday, March 5. The award winners were selected through a thorough survey of the league’s six head coaches.

Chatham University Nick Cyprian was named the UCHC Player of the Year. A native of Aledo, TX, he leads all UCHC skaters with 34 points on 14 goals and 20 assists in 27 games played this season. In 20 UCHC regular season contests, he led the league with 28 points on 12 goals and 16 assists to go along with three game-winning tallies and four power-play markers. A two-time UCHC Player of the Week, Cyprian recorded 10 multiple-point contests this season, including a season-best four-point outing while scoring the overtime winner in a 7-6 victory at SUNY Geneseo on Jan. 24. Cyprian is the first Chatham student-athlete to be named UCHC Player of the Year in program history.
 
Sean Melso of SUNY Geneseo earned UCHC Defensive Player of the Year honors. A native of Philadelphia, PA, Melso has a plus-28 rating, third best in the league and leads all defensemen in scoring with 24 points on eight goals and 16 assists in 26 games played this season. He was a league-best plus-26 with 21 points (six goals and 15 assists) in 20 UCHC regular season contests.
 
William Billequey of Manhattanville University and Geno Pichora of Chatham University shared UCHC Goaltender of the Year honors, while Pichora was also named the UCHC Rookie of the Year.
 
Billequey, a native of Montreal, Quebec, is second among all UCHC goaltenders with a .930 save percentage to go along with a 2.56 goals against average in 16 games this season. A four-time UCHC Goaltender of the Week, Billequey had a 55-save effort against SUNY Geneseo on Nov. 16 and had 49 saves in a win over Nazareth on Feb. 7. He recorded a .931 save percentage and had one shutout in league play this season. He is the first Manhattanville netminder to earn UCHC Goaltender of the Year honors.
 
Pichora, a native of Bethel Park, PA, finished 10-6-2 on the season with a 3.05 goals against average, a .914 save percentage and two shutouts in 18 games played this season. He leads the league with 652 saves and 36.2 saves per game this season, including 14 games with at least 30 saves. Pichora made a season-high 53 saves at Utica on Nov. 22 and stopped all 48 shots he faced in a 3-0 shutout win over Nazareth in the opening round of the UCHC Tournament on Feb. 26. He is the first Chatham student-athlete to earn UCHC Goaltender of the Year honors and second player to garner UCHC Rookie of the Year accolades (Caden Smith, 2022-23).

SUNY Geneseo head coach Chris Schultz was named the Conference’s Coach of the Year by his peers. Schultz has led the Knights to a No. 5 ranking in the NCAA National Power Index and No. 6 ranking in the USCHO.com Division III national poll. Geneseo enters the UCHC Championship game with a current record of 21-4-1, having finished 16-3-1 in league play to garner the No. 2 seed. Schultz is 319-139-31 in 19 seasons with the Knights and is looking to lead Geneseo to their eighth NCAA Tournament appearance since 2014.
 
Utica University Jakob Breault and SUNY Geneseo Peter Morgan joined Cyprian as forwards on the UCHC First Team. Adyin Parekh of Utica joined Melso as first team defensemen, while Billequry and Pichora shared the first team goaltender honor. All six student-athletes earned All-UCHC first team accolades for the first time.

The full list of UCHC award winners is listed below.
 
2024-25 UCHC Men's Ice Hockey Award Winners
Player of the Year: Nick Cyprian, Chatham
Defensive Player of the Year: Sean Melso, SUNY Geneseo
Co-Goaltender of the Year: William Billequey, Manhattanville
Co-Goaltender of the Year: Geno Pichora, Chatham
Rookie of the Year: Geno Pichora, Chatham
Coach of the Year: Chris Schultz, SUNY Geneseo

First Team All-UCHC
Forward: Jakob Breault, Utica
Forward: Nick Cyprian, Chatham
Forward: Peter Morgan, SUNY Geneseo
Defense: Aydin Parekh, Utica
Defense: Sean Melso, SUNY Geneseo
Goaltender: William Billequey, Manhattanville
Goaltender: Geno Pichora, Chatham

Second Team All-UCHC
Forward: Drake Morse, Utica
Forward: Nicholas Rogers, Manhattanville
Forward: Logan Tobias, Nazareth
Defense: Zack Conner, Chatham
Defense: Corey Popowcer, Manhattanville
 
All-Rookie Team
Forward: Jack McDonald, SUNY Geneseo
Forward: Tyler Samodral, Chatham
Forward: Aidan Taylor, SUNY Brockport
Defense: Anthony Bax, Utica
Defense: Nicholas Kovacs, SUNY Geneseo
Goaltender: Geno Pichora, Chatham
 
ABOUT THE UNITED COLLEGIATE HOCKEY CONFERENCE
The United Collegiate Hockey Conference is a collaborative effort between eleven institutions to provide a competitive environment and structure for NCAA Division III men's and women's ice hockey in the Eastern United States. Our membership encompasses a wide geographic area spanning from Central and Western New York to the greater Pittsburgh and Baltimore areas. In its fifth season, the UCHC will incorporate the efforts of ice hockey student-athletes from Arcadia University, Alvernia University, Chatham University, King's College, Lebanon Valley College, Manhattanville College, Nazareth College, Neumann University, Stevenson University, Utica College, and Wilkes University into their strong, but evolving membership that strives for on-ice excellence while also preparing student athletes for their off-ice futures. For more on the UCHC, visit the league's homepage at http://www.TheUCHC.com, or follow the league on Twitter at http://www.Twitter.com/UCHCHockey.