UTICA, NY - The No. 9-ranked Utica Pioneers entered last night's matchup in search of a big result to wrap up their ninth straight UCHC Regular Season Title. Matched up against a high-powered Chatham side, the hosts had opportunities to tilt the game heavily in their favor, but saw the plucky Cougars hang around as the two teams battled to a standstill. After remaining level at three goals apiece following overtime, Nick Ahern and Aydin Parekh would slot away two scores in the ensuing penalty shootout to give the orange and blue two points and the league's regular season crown.
Utica moved to 16-7-1, and 12-2-1 in the UCHC. Chatham, meanwhile, would move to 19-4-1, and 10-4-1 in the UCHC.
The Pioneers would grab an early 2-0 lead, one which Chatham would eventually erase late into the second period. Each team would bookend the third period with goals as the Pioneers scored minutes into the final regulation frame, while the Cougars would grab a last-minute goal to send the game to overtime. After a back and forth overtime, the score remained equal at three-a-side, so the contest went to the decisive penalty shootout. Ahern and Parekh, the first two shooters, would each score, while Kyle Curtin would keep Chatham's two shooters out of the net, sealing the shootout win and the two points for his team.
Those two points, coupled with a 3-2 Geneseo loss to Brockport on home ice would give the Pioneers their ninth straight UCHC Regular Season Championship, and 10th straight conference regular season title including the last season of the ECAC West. The orange and blue will host postseason action once again as the number one seed in the upcoming ECAC Tournament.
The Pioneers would outshoot Chatham by a significant margin in the matchup, rattling off 50 shots on goal compared to just 21 by their opposition. However, the Pioneers would take a rare loss in the faceoff department, as the visitors captured 30 of a possible 57 draws. Also, despite the three-goal outing, the Pioneers lost out on the opportunity to run their goal total even higher due to going 0-5 on the power play. Chatham would score on one of their two extra-man advantage opportunities. Even with those pair of negatives, the Pioneers were certainly the aggressor in the matchup, pushing pace and dictating play for a mass majority of the game.
The orange and blue had an extremely balanced outing, as no player surpassed more than a single point. Hunter Longhi and Gabriel Lundberg would grab the first period goals, while Andrew Della Rovere logged a third period score to give the Pioneers a late lead. A host of Pioneers each finished with one assist, including Alex German, Aidan Hughes, Drake Morse, Preston Brighton, Nicholas Rogers, and Stepan Kuznetsov.
Curtin would make 18 saves in net, including three saves during a tense overtime period.
The Pioneers return to action later today, taking on the Cougars once again in the regular season finale of their 25th Anniversary campaign. The Pioneers will look to boost their NPI in hopes of cracking the at-large discussion once again. Today's matchup is sponsored by Hamilton Orthopedic and will get underway at 2:00 PM.