#10 Utica blanks Seahawks

UTICA, N.Y. - The nationally-ranked No. 10 Utica College men's hockey team sold out the Utica Memorial Auditorium for the first time in program-history Saturday night as the Pioneers defeated visiting Salve Regina 12-0 in front of 4,000 fans.  The Pioneer nation turned out to take part in the seventh annual New York Sash Teddy Bear Toss, and after UC's Ridge Garbutt netted the first goal of the contest with less than five minutes to go in the first period, 4,500+ teddy bears began to fly out onto the ice for collection and distribution to local children throughout the holiday season.

The contest was a great test for the Seahawks and an opportunity to faceoff against some of the top competition in the nation. "Our goal is to grow our program to this level," says Salve Regina head coach Andrew Boschetto. "We want our players to know what it takes to compete at this level, and want to bring in the type of players who look forward to playing this type of competition." 

UC jumped out to a 4-0 lead over the course of the first two periods and the Pioneers poured it on in the final 20 minutes, scoring eight goals in the final stanza to seal the victory.  Sophomore forward Jon Gaffney scored all three of his goals in the third period and he led the Pioneers with four total points. Garbutt, sophomore Mike Slowikowski, George Lotito and Trever Hertz each recorded three points, while Evan Chlanda, Tim Coffman, Max White, Justin Hogan and Jordan Hobaica each added two points for the Pioneers.  Sophomore Adam Graff also chipped in with one goal for UC.

Utica is now 5-1-1 all-time in Teddy Bear Toss contests and this marked UC's first-ever meeting against Salve Regina.

Sophomore goalie Evan Smith stopped all 12 shots he faced to earn his first shutout of the season. Mike McDonald (Whitby, Ontario) stopped 33 shots in net for the visitors.

Courtesy of Utica Sports Information