UTICA, N.Y. – The nationally-ranked No. 10 Utica College men's hockey team poured it on in the second period, outscoring visiting Curry College 4-1 in the 20 minute span, to earn a 7-3 non-conference victory in front of 2,970 fans at the Utica Memorial Auditorium Saturday night. Six of the Pioneers seven goals were scored by the sophomore class in the four goal victory.
UC (11-4, 1-3 ECAC West)—winners of three in a row – won two non-conference games this weekend and improved to 9-1 at the Aud this season. Utica will travel to nationally-ranked No. 2 Oswego for a pivotal game against the Lakers on Saturday night. The puck is scheduled to drop at 7 p.m. UC defeated the Lakers 3-2 in their third contest of the season on Oct. 29.
Team leading-scorer Trever Hertz chipped in with three helpers and one empty net goal and he now has 25 points on ten goals and 15 assists this season. Sophomore classmates Jon Gaffney, Steve Charest and Steve Zappia each tallied two assists for Utica.
The Pioneers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first 10:48 of the contest behind goals from sophomores Chris Santiago and Adam Graff. Santiago finished the evening with a season-high two goals, while Graff added one goal and one assist. Curry cut that lead in half at the 13:48 marker when Jordan Reed netted his third goal of the season off assists from Payden Benning and Nathan Hardiman.
The second period is when the Pioneers really turned up the heat. Freshman forward Peter LaFosse lit the lamp for the third time in two nights to start the UC charge 4:08 into the second period. Just eight seconds later transfer Rob Morton won the ensuing face off and marched down the ice, beating Curry goalie Derek Mohney, to give UC a commanding 4-1 lead.
UC went on to outscore Curry 2-1 in the final 15 minutes of the period to take a commanding 6-2 lead into the third and final stanza. Curry netted a late third period goal to cut the deficit to 6-3, but Hertz's empty-netter with just over a minute to go sealed the victory for the Pioneers.
The Colonels, who were receiving votes in the latest USCHO.com national poll, moved their record to 7-5 overall, but they remain perfect at 5-0 in ECAC Northeast Conference play.
Sophomore goalie Evan Smith stopped 20 shots in net for the Pioneers as he improved his overall record to 6-3. Mohney was pulled from net after two full periods as he registered 19 saves, but allowed six goals for Curry. Joe Dawson stopped seven shots in the third period for the Colonels. (Recap courtesy of Utica College)
