UTICA, NY - Last weekend, the Pioneers put up nine goals against a tough Nazareth team. This weekend, the Pioneers did one better, stacking up 10 scores against a surging Albertus Magnus squad to walk away with a 10-4 win in game one of two against the Falcons.
The Pioneers kept up their win streak, making this the sixth straight win dating back to December's Teddy Bear Toss win over Oswego. The orange and blue improved to 11-5, and kept up their undefeated streak in the UCHC, moving to 7-0 in league play. Albertus fell to 10-6 on the season, and dipped below .500 in league play, falling to 4-5.
The hosts outshot the competition by a 43-20 margin, launching 15 attempts in a 6-goal third period. The Pioneers also kept up their recent power play prowess, scoring an unbelievable six goals with the extra man. The team went 6-for-10 on the power play, improving to 12-for-19 over the last three games. Utica spent over 22 minutes with an extra player in the contest.
The Pioneers saw nine different players score in the matchup, including great contributions from some recent additions to the lineup.
Three Stars:
1st Star - Nicholas Rogers: Rogers had his breakout game as a Pioneer, scoring two goals and also grabbing two assists to produce a four-point performance in front of a rowdy Aud crowd. Rogers has been a solid addition since transferring over the winter, finally seeing his hard work pay off with point production in the rout.
2nd Star - Nick Ahern: Ahern continued his steady stream of points in the victory, scoring one goal and achieving a trio of assists to match Rogers with a team-high four points. Ahern cushioned his team lead on points, now having 23 on the season after his stellar showing.
3rd Star - Stepan Kuznetsov: Kuznetsov kept up his point streak in the win, continuing to rack up a point in every game since joining the team over winter break. The Western New England transfer formed an insane one-two punch with fellow transfer Rogers, as both players combined to gather seven points in the win.
The other Pioneer goal scorers were Sal Cerrato, Mathieu MacMillan, Aiden Hughes, Alexander Gullichsen, Drake Morse, and John Gutt, who each tallied one score. Aydin Parekh grabbed two assists, while the group of Tyler Procious, Hughes, Gullichsen, Morse, Eric Vitale, Andrew Della Rovere, Gutt, and Gabriel Lundberg each picked up an apple in the action.
Kyle Curtin started his first matchup in two weeks, saving 16 shots in his ninth win of the season.
The Pioneers will be back on Saturday night to complete the season series with the Falcons. Tonight's game will begin at 7:00 PM at the Adirondack Bank Center.