The Utica College women's field hockey team lost to host Ithaca College 3-1 in Empire 8 Conference action Saturday.  Freshman Erin Murphy (Mt. Markham/West Winfield) netted the Pioneer's lone goal of the contest as UC drops to 3-2 in conference play.

    The Bombers struck first as senior forward Elyse Green (Shawnee/Medford, NJ) knocked in the first goal of the afternoon at the 19:48 mark.  After a penalty corner set-up, junior Annie Onzik (Bishop O'Reilly/Shavertown, PA) tipped it to Green who knocked it past Utica's goalkeeper Amanda McDonnell (Portsmouth Abbey/Sagamore Beach, MA) to put the Bombers up 1-0.

    Utica evened the score four minutes later when freshman forward Erin Murphy received a pass from Mallory Mariano (Vernon Verona Sherrill/Oneida) to execute the only Pioneer goal of the afternoon.  The goal was Murphy's first goal of her college career.  The assist was the fourth for Mariano this year, tied for best on the team.

    With less than two minutes to play in the half, Ithaca's Kirsten Auer (Branford/Branford/CT) captured the ball on the right side and sent it home to give the Bomber's a commanding 2-1 lead heading into intermission.

    At the 47:15 mark in the second half, freshman Sophia Johnson (Holland Patent/Holland Patent) added an insurance goal to increase the Bombers' lead to 3-1.  Johnson followed off a rebound to knock in her second career goal.  The Bomber's held on to the lead for the remainder of the half to earn the conference victory.

    During the competition, McDonnell tallied 13 saves while giving up three goals.  Her counterpart, Courtney Dowell (Massapequa/Massapequa) gave up one goal while saving five.  The Bombers outplayed Utica during the 70:00 minutes of play, holding a 20-10 shot advantage and a 12-4 penalty corner advantage.

    Ithaca has now tallied three consecutive victories over the Pioneers during the course of the past three seasons.  With the loss Utica drops to 7-7 overall and 3-2 in the Empire 8.  Ithaca improves to 6-7 overall, winning all six games in front of their home crowd, and now sit at 2-3 in the Empire 8.

    Utica returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 25 when they host Hartwick College at 1 p.m.  The Hawks look to snap a three-game losing streak when they battle Utica in an Empire 8 Conference match up at the Charles A. Gaetano Stadium.  Meanwhile, the Ithaca Bombers travel to Cortland to face the Red Dragons in a 4 p.m. non-conference showdown.

                                                  
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