Pioneer Men Rally Past Neumann, Will Host UCHC Championship

With a minute remaining in the second period of Saturday's UCHC men's semi-final, the Utica College Pioneers had their backs against the wall. They trailed 2-0 to rival Neumann and their opportunity to host the conference championship was about to slip away. 

But the Pioneers would cut that deficit in half in the final minute of the second, the first of five unanswered Utica would score in a 5-2 win over the Knights.

Utica's four-goal third period included a spurt of three scores within just 48 seconds. Pioneer goals were scored by Roman Ammirato, Daniel Fritz, Jacob Gerson, Conor Landrigan and Kevin Valenti.

Pioneers goalie Patrick Virtanen turned away 27 of the 29 shots he faced to allow Utica to mount it's dramatic rally.

The UCHC title game is set for next Saturday night (7:00) at the Adirondack Bank Center as the top-seeded Pioneers host the fifth-seed, Elmira, who upset No.2 Stevenson by a 5-3 final on Saturday.