The Pioneers are on a good path to playoffs. In last weekend’s rivalry home match, the Utica University men’s hockey team defeated the Nazareth Golden Flyers, blanking its UCHC opponent 7-0 on Friday, Jan. 27 and 4-2 on Saturday, Jan. 28. Utica’s winning streak now stands at 16 games.

On Friday night, Junior Shane Murphy led the team with a hat trick and an assist, setting the tone for the team. While Brian Scoville, Matt Wood, Khristian Acosta and Eric Vitale completed the scoring. 

It was Murphy’s first hat trick at the college level. On Monday, Jan. 29, Murphy was named United Collegiate Hockey Conference’s co-player of the week.

“It always feels good to contribute whether it’s a goal, assist, or big hit,” Murphy said. “I was just thrilled.”

Head coach Gary Heenan said the team is growing stronger, but still has challenges with inconsistency. 

“While Murphy’s performance on the scoreboard is certainly beneficial, we really need to see the rest of the players stepping up at this time of year if we want to make it to the playoffs,” Heenan said.  

Wood, Scoville, John Gutt and Kimball Johnson each had two assists while Vitale, Acosta, Vladislav Pshenichnikov, Griffen Barr and Dante Spagnuolohad one apiece as well. In his fifth start of the season, goalie Bryan Landsberger was flawless, making 26 saves giving Nazareth no opportunity to score a single effort on goal. 

“I was confident in the team this weekend. We had a good week of practice, we’ve focused a lot on developing and improving daily,” Johnson said. “We have a great group of guys that are all willing to sacrifice and do what it takes to win. Especially with the huge freshmen class we have, trusting the system and each other is crucial.”

The Pioneers wasted no time jumping out front after Murphy took revenge for his first penalty kill of the game by shooting out of the penalty box and scoring the opening goal of the evening off in the first six minutes of the game off passes from Johnson for an early 1-0 edge.  

The second goal of the game assisted by Pshenichnikov was scored by Acosta, who made a spectacular play to draw the goalkeeper out of position and score from close range just one minute after Murphy’s goal. Much like the first, Utica took the lead right away in the second frame. Just two minutes in, Scoville’s deep shot gave the team a three-goal lead. 

With a commanding 3-0 lead going into the third, the Pioneers undoubtedly applied more pressure in the last period. In the second half, John Gutt intercepted a pass in front of the Nazareth goal, setting up Murphy for his second goal of the game. 

Dante Spagnuolo continued Utica’s dominant puck possession, setting up Vitale for a goal that extended his goal streak to three games. 

Murphy’s relentless play kept the attack going while he set up Wood for the team’s sixth goal of the evening. Murphy was not letting up, scoring his third goal of the game and earning his first career hat-trick after firing a shot off a rebound. 

“We were just trying to keep it simple as a line by getting pucks to the net,” Murphy said.. “We were creating chances all night so we knew an opportunity would come for us, it was just whether or not we would capitalize on it. “

Head coach Gary Heenan said the team is growing stronger, but still has challenges with inconsistency. 

“While Murphy’s performance on the scoreboard is certainly beneficial, we really need to see the rest of the players stepping up at this time of year if we want to make it to the playoffs,” Heenan said.  

Murphy continued to build on his hat-trick from Friday night, scoring three points on the strength of two assists and one goal in Saturday’s game. 

The other three goals for Utica came from Johnson, Scoville and Michael Herrera combined. In addition to Murphy, Jakob Breault and Alexander Gullichsen each contributed one assist. Ethan Roberts earned his tenth victory of the year in goal, making 21 saves with two goals allowed.

Murphy said he has built confidence playing with Wood and Gutt.

“We’ve been playing together for a while now creating some really good chemistry together which has increased my confidence,” Murphy said. 

Within the opening 20 minutes of play, Scoville gave Utica the lead with his eighth goal of the year, assisted by Breault. Following that, Herrera scored to make the score 2-0. 

Soon after, Johnson scored his fourth goal of the year with Murphy’s assistance to put the Pioneers ahead 3-0. Less than a minute into the third, Murphy found himself in open space making the score 4-0. 

Moving one step closer to the playoffs, the No. 5 men’s hockey is eager to continue with strong momentum. The team has struggled in the last two years after falling to the same opponent in the NCAA first round the previous two years.

“We cannot take any team lightly, especially around this time of year,” Johnson said.. “I would say we are preparing the same way we always do for this weekend. We’ve focused on playing to our standard the past few weeks, and we are continuing to develop and improve. These last three weekends of the regular season are very important to carry us into the playoffs the right way. “

 The  men’s hockey team will hit the ice again next weekend for their last road trip of the season at King’s College on Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. and on Feb. 3 at 2 p.m.