Pittsburgh, PA - The next three weekends, the Chatham Ice Hockey team is under the gun to make playoffs with only 6 games of conference play left. This weekend, the Chatham University women's hockey team travels to Utica, NY in an ECAC West Conference matchup against the Utica College Pioneers. While the Cougars are 2-9-1 in conference play (7-11-1 overall) and sit at eighth place in the conference, the Pioneers boast a 4-5-3 conference record (6-8-4 overall) and are currently holding on to the sixth and final conference playoff spot.
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This past weekend, Utica dropped and tied in a surprising pair of conference games against the ninth place Neumann University Knights, and the week before split a pair of conference games with the SUNY Potsdam Bears. Utica splitting with Potsdam does not help in the Cougars' quest for a playoff spot - the split helped to narrow the gap between Utica and the fifth place Potsdam, but put neither team within an easily attainable reach for Chatham to overtake in the standings. However, Utica's upset to Neumann helps the Cougars loosen up a little bit from the tough spot of overcoming a five point deficit to get in front of the sixth place Pioneers, and the seventh place Cortland Red Dragons to whom Chatham suffered a loss and a tie over the weekend. However, the Cougars have yet to play Neumann in a conference matchup this season and it appears Neumann has upped their game in the second half of the season, which may make it difficult for the Cougars to pull off a clean sweep of the Knights.
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Like always, the lineups of each different team change with each year due to the graduation and transference of players. While Chatham has improved each year under current head coach Jason Evans with a larger and more talented roster, Utica has this year felt the loss of the scoring ability of Megan Myers (Career: 143 Pts, 74 G, 69 A), who graduated in the spring of 2014. With the consistent goaltending of senior goaltender Megan Buchanan (Stittsville, ON/Rideau St. Lawrence) and even distribution of scoring prowess among the forwards, Chatham may be able to hammer home a win against the Utica College Pioneers this weekend. Tune in to the game this Friday, February 6 at 4:00 pm (EST) on Chatham's new Cougars All-Access video stream. The Cougars return to home ice on Friday, February 13 against the SUNY Potsdam Bears at 8:00 pm.
- COUGARS –                                                                                 Â
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Chatham University in Pittsburgh, PA is a member of the President's Athletic Conference (PAC) and offers eight Division III women's sports and six men's sports. The athletic program is housed on Chatham's historic and beautiful Shadyside Campus in the $18 million, 74,000 square foot Athletic and Fitness Center (AFC). Chatham Cougar athletes excel on the field and in the classroom, as illustrated by recent accomplishments such as the women's basketball team's second-highest team GPA across all Division III athletic programs in 2014, and the swimming & diving squad's GPA ranking in the top 50.
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Women's sports at Chatham include basketball, cross country, ice hockey, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, track & field, and volleyball. Chatham will add six new men's sports in the 2015-2016 academic year: baseball, basketball, cross country, swimming & diving, track & field, and volleyball.
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For more information, call 1-800-837-1290 or visit www.gochathamcougars.com
