UTICA, N.Y. -- Utica scored four unanswered goals to avert a upset bid by Fredonia, 7-3, in an NCAA Division 3 men's hockey season-opener for both teams.

The Pioneers, No. 14 in both the USCHO.com and D3 Hockey pre-season rankings, took a 3-2 lead on a power-play goal by Dalton Carter at 14:06 of the second period. Three consecutive goals in the third period pushed the Utica lead out to 6-2 before Fredonia freshman winger Victor Tracy (Stockholm, Sweden) scored to make it 6-3. Tracy was playing in his first collegiate game.

The Pioneers scored late in the third period for the final margin.

Senior center Sam Wilbur (Saginaw, Mich.) scored the first two Blue Devil goals, the first to put his team up 1-0 and later to tie the score at 2-2. The Blue Devils used two goaltenders. A junior, Eric Bogart (London, Ont.) made 22 saves before leaving after giving up the fifth Utica goal. His replacement, sophomore Anton Rosen (Orsa, Sweden), stopped 2 of 4 shots-on-goal in the final 16 minutes.

Seven different Pioneers each had one goal and six players had two-point games. Utica goaltender Patrik Virtanen had 27 saves.

The Blue Devils withstood some early Utica chances before making the most of their first good chance. Wilbur gave Devils 1-0 lead with wrist shot through traffic at 4:14. The Pioneers then used their speed to score twice in a span of 18 seconds. Daniel Fritz made it 1-1 on a breakaway after receiving a long pass out of the defensive end. The Pioneers executed another long breakout down their left wing resulting in another open scoring chance. Bogart stopped the initial shot but could not slide across in time to stop Kevin Valenti, who was trailing the play down the right wing. Valenti then got behind the Fredonia defense a second time only to have Bogart keep him from scoring what would have been a short-handed goal. Seconds later, Wilbur converted the Fredonia power-play, this time with a wrister from the left boards, and the period ended with the teams tied 2-2.

The Pioneers kept peppering Bogart with shots early in the second period. He kept turning them aside until consecutive Blue Devil penalties gave Utica a 5-on-3 power-play. That's when Carter made it 3-2 -- and put Utica up for good -- with a slap shot from the point. The Blue Devils killed the rest of that play, plus another, before they received a power-play chance of their own. That chance went by the board when the Blue Devils took an interference penalty in the neutral zone late in the second period rather than have Valenti break in alone from just outside the Blue Devil blue line.

Utica took command with two quick goals to open the third period. Kyle Lajeunesse made it 4-2 with a shot from the left slot after a pair of teammates' passes. Mikhail Bushinski made it 5-2 when he shoved a puck under Bogart following a scramble in front of the crease. Bogart went to the bench after that and Rosen entered as the Utica kept up the pressure. But first, Fredonia created a scoring chance by digging out pucks and swarming the net, only to have Virtanen stop a series of shots from close range. The Pioneers regained composure and took a 6-2 lead when Justin Derlago scored on a rebound following two saves by Rosen. Tracy, playing the point, scored a power-play goal with a snap shot from the left dot. It was set up by Oskar Gerhardson (Haessleholm, Sweden) with a cross-ice pass from below the goal line. Wilbur was credited with the second assist, which gave him a three-point game. Utica's Conor Landrigan completed the scoring with a shot from the slot after a series of passes in Utica's offensive end.