Box Score

UTICA, N.Y. – Nichols first-year goaltender Alex Larson (Madison, Ala.) collected a career-high 42 saves and senior Zach Kohn (Delafield, Wis.) moved into a tie for fourth place in program history with his 77th assist as the Nichols College men's ice hockey team fell to No. 9/10 Utica by a score of 4-1 in a non-conference tilt on Saturday night at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.
 
Kohn tied Cole Ruwe '09 with his 77th career helper on sophomore Kyle Shapiro's (Ambler, Pa.) goal at 17:41 in the third period to break up the shutout. Rookie Frank Butler (East Haven, Conn.) also pitched in on the goal as the Bison played in front of a crowd of 3,475.

“I thought we battled hard tonight,” stated head coach Kevin Swallow. “They're one of the best teams in the country. I thought we played with them for sure. A late goal in the first period, a penalty shot, a power-play goal against and an empty netter. Overall it was a pretty good effort by the team.”
  
The action began early as junior Ridge Garbutt (Toronto, Ontario) took a point-blank shot at Larson who made the stop with just under a minute into the game.  With 15:03 showing on the clock, junior John Gaffney (Dover, N.J.) launched a blast went wide left. Later in the period, junior Jordan Hobaica (Clinton, N.Y.) fired a shot from the left circle that was stymied by Larson at the 12:24.  The contest remained 0-0 until Gaffney received a pass from Garbutt and found an opening to the left of the goaltender with 26.7 seconds left in the frame. Utica outshot the Bison 13-6 in the period as each side had one extra-man opportunity.
 
Despite owning a 19-4 bulge in shots, the only scoring of the second period came on a penalty shot at 7:48 in the frame. Pioneer freshman Nick Miglio (Boerne, Texas) converted the shot for the hosts after a trip was called on the Bison. Nichols had three power play chances while Utica had a pair.
 
Shortly after freshman Gordon Ceasar (Oalk Park, Calif.) made a save on a shot by sophomore Mike Schwartz (Long Beach, N.Y.) the Pioneers came down the ice and took a 3-0 lead at 3:26. Seniors Evan Chlanda (Islip, N.Y.) and Rob Morton (New Hartford, N.Y.) created the opportunity for Garbutt to score as the Pioneers took advantage of one of the squad's two power play opportunities of the stanza. Junior Adam Graff (Bear, Del.) potted an empty netter with two seconds left for the 4-1 final. The shot margin was closer in the third as the hosts led 14-10.
 
On the night, Utica held a 46-20 advantage in the shot column and went 1-for-6 with the man advantage. Nichols finished the game 0-for-3 on the power play.
 
Ceasar (1-0-0) stopped 19 shots for the Pioneers as Larson (2-2-0) shouldered the defeat for the Bison.
 
Nichols (6-4-0) is on the road again on Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. game at Southern New Hampshire. Utica (9-2-0) entertains Salve Regina on Friday, January 4 at 7:00 p.m.