Utica, NY – The nationally-ranked No. 11 Utica College women's hockey team lost to visiting No. 1 Plattsburgh State 3-0 Friday night at the Utica Memorial Auditorium in ECAC Women's West Conference action.

The Pioneers are now 7-5 overall and drop to 3-1 in the league, while the Cardinals improve to 12-1 overall and remain undefeated at 7-0 a top the ECAC Women's West Conference. Plattsburgh out shot UC 28-18 on the evening and remain undefeated with a 17-0-2 record all-time versus the Pioneers.

The Cardinals got on the board first, when junior forward Shay Bywater (Port Coquitlam, BC/Pacific Steelers) netted her sixth goal of the season past UC sophomore goalie Jill Doherty (Wellesley, MA/Kents Hill) 3:33 into the first period. Sophomore forward Stephanie Moberg (Sratoga Springs, NY/Northwood School) and All-American junior forward Danielle Blanchard (Newmarket, ONT/Aurora Panthers) were each credited with an assist on the games' first goal. Blanchard tallied her team-high 25th point of the season on the play.

The Pioneers fended off 7:00 of penalties, including a 5:00 body checking major, to close out the first period behind 1-0.

Midway through the second period the Pioneers' earned a golden 5-on-3 opportunity for just under a minute, but they were unable to convert and the scored remained 1-0.

The trio of Bywater, Moberg and Blanchard connected again13:02 into the second period to give the Cardinals' a commanding 2-0 lead. Moberg skated behind the net and found a streaking Bywater in front, Bywater netted her second goal of the game past Doherty, blocker side. Blanchard currently leads the nation in scoring with 26 points on 16 goals and ten assists.

The Cardinals netted an insurance goal in the final moments of the second period to give Plattsburgh a 3-0 lead. Sophomore forward Laurie Bowler (Brantford, ONT/Burlington Bacudas) scored her ninth goal of the season, good for second on the team, trailing Blanchard's team-high 16 goals. Senior defender Julie Devereux (Lombard, Ill. /Chicago Mission) and junior forward Lindsay Brown (Scarborough, ONT/Markham Stars) were credited with assists on the goal. For Devereux it marked her fifth assist of the season, while Brown added her eighth assist of the year.

Doherty stopped 25 shots on the night and dropped to 4-4 on the year, while her counterpart, junior net minder Danielle Beatie (Brooklin, ONT/Aurora Panthers) stopped all 18 shots and improved her record to 9-1 on the year. She now has four shut outs this season.

UC returns to the ice Saturday to complete the two-game ECAC Women's West set against visiting Plattsburgh State. The puck is scheduled to drop at 2 p.m.

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