ASTON, Pa. – After a hard-fought road victory over Nazareth College in the first round of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) West playoffs, the Neumann University men's ice hockey team travels to Utica College for a semifinal matchup on Saturday evening.

The fifth-seeded Knights are fresh off a 4-1 win on Wednesday evening at fourth-seeded Nazareth. Neumann received balanced scoring in the victory, as four different players found the back of the net. Zac Lazzaro, Nick Perruccio, Joe Mitchell and Liam Board all scored for the Knights, who also received an outstanding performance in goal from Anthony Pupplo. The freshman net-minder was a rock in goal for Neumann, making 44 saves on 45 Nazareth shots.

Neumann's reward for advancing to the semifinals is a date with top-seeded Utica. The Knights will have their hands full with the Pioneers, who defeated Neumann twice this season. On November 4^th the Knights fell on the road to Utica by a score of 5-2. Johannes Sallila and Connor Annett scored for the Knights in the loss. The most recent matchup between the two teams came in a 5-4 Utica win in Aston on January 27^th. In a much closer game, Neumann received goals from Ryan Luiten, Jake Davidson, Matt Zendejas and Mitchell.

Despite the previous setbacks to the Pioneers, Neumann will head to New York with a great deal of confidence. Since the loss to Utica in January, the Knights have taken points in six of their last seven games (5-1-1). The team has also been road warriors all season, with 19 of its 26 games now coming away from home. The Knights have compiled a 12-5-2 record on the road this season, and will look to previous experiences playing in tough environments to propel them to a win on Saturday.

The Knights continue to be led by one of the nation's top offenses. Nine different Neumann players have now scored five or more goals this season, while five players have found the back of the net ten or more times. The nation's sixth ranked offense has been led all year by the trio of Jory Mullin, Shayne Morrissey and Board. Mullin leads the country in goals with 26 and is now third in the nation with 44 points. The forward is also tied for the national lead in shorthanded goals with five. Morrissey (25) and Board (24) continue to be ranked in the top ten in the country in assists. Ryan Luiten ranks tied for third in the nation with nine power play goals (14 overall), while Shane Topf has also contributed 15 goals of his own.

On the back end, freshman Anthony Pupplo continues to rank as one of the country's top goaltenders. The freshman has registered an 11-1-2 record between the pipes to go along with a .945 save percentage and 1.87 goals against average. His save percentage now ranks second nationally amongst qualifying goalies. 

The winner of this semifinal matchup will move on to ECAC West Championship game on Saturday, March 4^th versus the winner of the other semifinal game between Hobart College and Manhattanville College. Puck-drop for Saturday's game at Utica is scheduled for 7:00 PM.