Statistics

UTICA, N.Y. -- After a combined 10 goals during the first 33 minutes, John Gutt netted the deciding tally 4:22 into the 3rd period to give No.3 Utica University a 6-5 men's ice hockey result against the University of New England on Friday (Nov. 29) in the opening round of Utica's Delta by Marriott Thanksgiving Showcase at the Adirondack Bank Center.

The host Pioneers (8-1) will play Stevenson University on Saturday evening in the title match, while the Nor'easters (5-3) are set to square off with Oswego State (SUNY) in the 4 p.m. contest. Earlier on Friday, Stevenson never trailed but needed overtime to clip Oswego, 4-3.

All night, things were either separated by one goal or tied, as the teams skated for the first time since UNE eliminated Utica from the national quarterfinals in back-to-back years (2022 and 2023).

The visitors struck first at the 6:19 mark of the 1st stanza on an unassisted wrist shot from the point by Noah Szretter. However, Jakob Breault answered 61 seconds later for the Pioneers (1-1), and then Gutt's first of the evening gave the home side its only other lead (2-1) with 11:14 gone in the period.

UNE was back level with five minutes left in the initial frame, though, as Drew Olivieri converted in the slot off a feed from Ryan Kuzmich, and the match remained deadlocked at intermission.

The Nor'easters regained an advantage (3-2) just 47 seconds into the 2nd session with their fourth shorthanded goal of the season. David Wilcox stole it in the neutral zone and was off to the races; while he couldn't maneuver around the nearest defender on the break, his pressure forced a miscue by a second skater backtracking to the loose puck and it ended in the back of the net.

Only 25 seconds later, Anthony Bax had Utica back at 3-3. UNE pulled ahead again (4-3) at 5:25 when Kuzmich finished at the left doorstep after a shot by Olivieri, which was then countered at 8:54 off the stick of Brian Scoville for the Pioneers on the power play (4-4).

The seesawing continued at 10:50 of the middle period with the Nor'easters converting a power-play chance, as Kuzmich stuffed home a rebound after Juraj Elias teed up Jacob Pellerin for a blast from the blue line (5-4). But with 7:28 to play in the 2nd, Utica's Matt Wood had things knotted at 5-all.

Action stayed intense the rest of the way, but UNE starting netminder Joey Stanizzi and Pioneers backup Bryan Landsberger stopped 24 of 25 total shots. The one that put Utica in front for good in the final period was chipped out of the defensive zone by Wood, secured by Shane Murphy in a battle with UNE's last defender, and quickly centered to a wide-open Gutt for a one-timer.

Scoville had a game-best four points for the hosts, while Wood and Bax finished with three. Landsberger made 10 saves in relief of Pioneers starter Ethan Roberts, who yielded the five goals on 12 UNE shots. Half of the tries denied by Landsberger came in the closing 5:34, from which point the visitors had all the looks at the target.

Kuzmich paced the Nor'easters with three points, and it was his first two-goal outing since late in the 2022-23 campaign. The goals credited to Szretter and Wilcox were their first tallies of the year. Stanizzi wound up with 31 saves.