Utica 5, Cortland 0 - Box Score

The Utica College women's hockey team tallied two goals in each of the first two periods and never looked back, earning its third straight victory headed into the semester break, as the Pioneers downed visiting Cortland State 5-0 Saturday afternoon at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.  UC sophomore forward Megan Myers (Las Vegas, NV/LA Selects) and freshman Nicole Kieffer (Rome, NY/Lysander Lightning) each tallied one goal and one assist, while sophomore goalie Jennifer Hamel (Ithaca, NY/Northwood School) registered her second shutout of the season with 13 saves.  

The Pioneers, now 3-5 in ECAC West play, evened their overall record to 6-6 as they moved up to sixth in the conference standings.  Utica returns to the ice Saturday Jan. 7 when it hosts Manhattanville College at  "The Aud" (4 p.m.).

UC jumped out to a 1-0 lead on the game's first power-play as junior Meghan McMahon (Gardner, MA/St. Marks (MA)) netted her first season goal and the eventual game-winner. Myers, the Pioneers' leading scorer, along with freshman Courtney May (Oxford, MI/Belle Tire) set-up the score with just .07 left on the man-up advantage. With under five minutes to play, Myers gave Utica a 2-0 as she found the back of the net for her sixth season goal off feeds from Kieffer and freshman Louise Steele-Norton (Avondale, PA/Millbrook School).  UC outshot the visitors 12-7 while killing two Red Dragons power-plays in the first 20 minutes of play.

Junior Meghan Willet registered her first score of the season, unassisted, at 8:13 as UC pushed to a 3-0 lead. The Pioneers went on to defend three consecutive man-down situations before freshman Kelsey Dowdall (Smiths Falls, ONT/Nepean) put home her third goal of the season.  Sophomore Vanessa Maines (Boxborough, MA/Boston Jr. Shamrocks) and freshman Nicole Schwartz (Danville, CA/San Jose Sharks) were awarded assists as UC pulled to a four goal lead at 16:56.

In the final period, Kieffer would cap the afternoon scoring with a power-play score at 7:11.  The home team went on to dead two more power-plays as it held Cortland to just one shot in the final to 20 minutes.