PURCHASE, N.Y. – For a second-straight season, the No. 3 Manhattanville College Valiants will be heading to the No. 2 Utica Pioneers for the UCHC Semifinals. The Valiants will look for a similar outcome as last season where they defeated Utica 3-2 in overtime to punch their ticket to the championship game.
   
How We Got Here 
 
The Valiants hosted their quarterfinal matchup on Wednesday evening against sixth-seeded Arcadia, picking up a 3-2 overtime win against the Knights. Virginia Birnie (Ontario, Canada/Rosethay Netherwood School) fired off the game-winning goal in the fifth minute of overtime from Catrina Chinetti (Hyde Park, Mass./Boston Latin Academy) to secure a Valiants' win and a spot in the UCHC Semifinals. Leading up to the overtime heroics, the Valiants erased a 2-0 third period deficit after Gabrielle Cox (Niverville, NY/Ichabod Crane High School) scored a shorthanded goal before Annie Niedermier (Calgary, Alberta, Canada/Athol Murray College of Notre Dame) tied up the game during a power play opportunity. Morgan Miller (St. Augustine, Fla./Gilmour Academy) would tally an assist on each of the regulation goals. Franny Gerardi (Yonkers, N.Y./Selects Academy) made 17 saves in the win as the senior netminder rocks a 1.70 goals-against average and a .941 save percentage on the campaign.
 
The second-seeded Pioneers shutout Lebanon Valley 4-0 on Wednesday in the quarterfinals on the backs of Maggie Rylott, Erica Sloan, Carly Stefanini, and Carolyn Whitney to make their return to the UCHC Semis. Rylott would score two of Utica's four goals, while Sloan and Stefanini would add a goal and assist each. Whitney would have two assists on the day. The Pioneer defense would hold the Flying Dutchmen to 13 shots total as each that were fired at Angela Hawthorne in net would be saved. 
 
Last Time Out
 
The Valiants were already on the road upstate for the last weekend matchup against the Pioneers on Jan. 20 and 21. Gerardi played strong in the crease, making 84 total saves across the two games, but the Valiant offense struggled to find much success. In the series opener, Manhattanville was blanked 4-0, firing 25 shots on net that were all turned away by Hawthorne. Whitney would score two of Utica's four goals, while Georgiana Santullo and Madison Novotny would get the others. Cox got the Valiants on the board in the finale, but it wasn't enough as the Pioneers' Rylott, Sloan, and Stefanini each scored in a 3-1 win.

The Valiants did have some magic up their sleeves in their last postseason trip up to Utica. Much like how this year's quarterfinal game played out, Manhattanville erased a 2-0 deficit in the third last year up in Utica before Cox scored an overtime winner to punch the Valiants' tickets to the UCHC Championship game.
 
Team Leaders
Manhattanville

• Points: Cox (39), Miller (26), Felicio (14)
• Goals: Cox (31), Miller (11), Niedermier (7) 
• Assists: Miller (15), Felicio and Meredith (9), Cox and Carr (8) 
• Goals Against Average: Gerardi (1.70), Austin (1.80)

 Utica 

• Points: Sloan and Santullo (40), Stefanini (34), Whitney (24)
• Goals: Sloan (23), Santullo (15), Modlin and Rylott (14)
• Assists: Santullo (25), Stefanini (24), Sloan and Whitney (17) 
• Goals Against Average: Esposito (.86), Hawthorne (.97)

  History 

• All-Time Record: 10-9-1
• Streak: Utica W2
• Last 10: 4-6
• Series Record at Utica: 6-6
• Scores From Last Five Meetings: 
  • 1/21/2023: Utica 3, Manhattanville 1
  • 1/20/2023: Utica 4, Manhattanville 0
  • 2/26/2022: Utica 2, Manhattanville 3 (OT)
  • 1/22/2022: Manhattanville 2, Utica 7
  • 1/21/2022: Manhattanville 3, Utica 1 

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