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Utica, NY – The Utica College women's lacrosse team (3-1) opens up Empire 8 Conference play this weekend as they host back-to-back games against nationally-ranked No. 9 Stevens Institute of Technology and Hartwick College.

Friday's game is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. while Saturday's game is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. Both games will be held at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium. The Pioneers have now won three straight and are off to their best start in program-history. 

Stevens is currently 5-2 overall and recently had their five game winning streak snapped as No. 13 Middlebury beat the Ducks, 17-7, Tuesday. Last season, Stevens beat the Pioneers, 19-3, at De Baun Field in Hoboken, NJ. Since joining the E8 Conference back in 2008, the Ducks are 3-0 against Utica with an average margin of victory of 11.6 goals per contest.

Hartwick currently holds a 4-1 overall record. UC beat the Hawks in their last three meetings, including a 12-11 win last season at Wright Stadium in Oneonta, NY. Since 2005, Utica holds a 3-2 advantage over the Hawks in heads-up play. Hartwick last beat UC back on Apr. 11 2007, 13-11.

Utica is led by senior Tammy Kohanski (Syracuse, NY/Corcoran) who currently the conference with an average of five points per game and also leads the team in all major categories. Kohanski has a team-high 20 points on 12 goals and eight assists to along with 10 caused turnovers. She is the program?s all-time leading scorer with 217 career points (172 goals, 45 assists). Senior Katlyn Banker (Henrietta, NY/Rush-Henrietta) is second in scoring with 13 points including six goals and seven assists.

The Pioneer defense is led by reigning player of the year, junior Shelby Barbay (Waterloo, NY/Waterloo), who has racked up 42 saves and a team-high 11 groundballs thus far. Barbay holds a 3-1 record headed into conference play and has a 7.25 goals allowed average. Barbay recently became the College?s all-time leader in saves and she now has 351 in just over two full seasons.

This past week, Barbay and Kohanski were each named the Empire 8 Conference and ECAC Upstate Goalie and Player of the Week, respectively.

Following the weekend set, the Pioneers return to action Tuesday as they host conference rival Ithaca College. The game is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. at Gaetano Stadium.