Utica Hosting Elmira in Battle of Nationally Ranked ECAC West Rivals on Friday

(Courtesy of Utica Sports Information)

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UTICA, N.Y. - The nationally-ranked No. 13 Utica College men's hockey team is set to open up Eastern College Athletic Conference West play on Friday night when No. 6 Elmira College travels to the Utica Memorial Auditorium.  The AmeriCU 'Pink the Rink' contest is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. The Pioneers have joined forces with AmeriCU to 'Pink the Rink' for the fourth consecutive season and they will don pink jerseys throughout the contest in support of breast cancer awareness.

The jerseys are currently being auctioned off online at the UC athletics website and they will also be auctioned off throughout the contest.  All proceeds will benefit the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer research Fund of CNY. 

UC OFF TO A GOOD START: The Pioneers head into the key conference contest having won two in a row to open up their 2011-12 campaign …  UC upset nationally-ranked No.2 Oswego State 3-2 last Saturday night in front of 3,499 fans at the Aud … The Pioneers opened the season with a come-from-behind, 5-3, win over Brockport State. 

BACK-TO-BACK AT THE AUD: After suiting up to take on Elmira College on Friday night the Pioneers will turn right back around to take on St. Michaels at 7 p.m. on Saturday night  at the Aud … This will be Utica's first-ever meeting against St. Michaels in the program's 11 year history. 

SEVEN IN A ROW: The 2011-12 edition of the UC men's hockey team has now won seven games in a row if you include the Pioneers trip to Germany and its season-opening exhibition win over the Royal Military College of Canada. 

SOPHOMORE SENSATIONS: Sophomores Adam Graff and Trever Hertz currently lead the Pioneers with two goals and two assists each …  Graff netted two goals and added one assist in UC's win over Brockport … Hertz has been consistent through two games, posting one goal and one assist in each contest. 

COFFMAN'S QUEST:  Senior captain Tim Coffman went off for four assists in the Pioneers' 5-3 season-opening victory over Brockport State … Coffman has 110 career points and he needs 20 more points this season to break the previous career scoring record set by All-American Jimmy Sokol '05 …  Coffman needs nine assists to break the school's all-time assist mark set by Sokol.

CHLANDA IS A PURE GOAL SCORER: Junior forward Evan Chlanda is tied for the team lead with two goals this season … He currently ranks second among active players with 22 career goals. 

GOALIE BY COMMITTEE: As expected, sophomore goalies Evan Smith and Nick Therrien have each started one game so far this season … Therrien posted 28 saves and a .929 goals against average in the win over Oswego … Smith added 21 saves in the win over Brockport. 

ALL-TIME AGAINST ELMIRA: UC is 8-15-4 all-time against Elmira headed into Friday night's match-up … Utica tied EC 3-3 in their regular season finale at the Aud last season … The last time Utica beat Elmira was on Feb. 21, 2009 by the score of 4-3. 

SCOUTING ELMIRA: Nationally-ranked No. 6 Elmira College opened the season with a pair of losses against No. 2 Oswego State two weekends ago … Elmira was outscored 13-5 in the home-and-home weekend series … Sophomore forward Wes Consorti led the way for the Soaring Eagles with a team-best two goals … Junior goalie Darren McDonald made 42 saves but gave up 11 goals against the Lakers last weekend … Freshman net minder Ray DeMelo came on in relief and stopped 21 shots while giving up two goals in his collegiate debut ... Last season Elmira won the ECAC Men's West Championship and earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament … The Soaring Eagles lost in the first round of NCAA's at Adrian, 5-3, last season.