#5 Plattsburgh 7, Utica 1 - Box Score

Utica, NY (2-11-12) – The Utica College women's hockey team lost to nationally-ranked No. 5 SUNY Plattsburgh 7-1 Saturday afternoon at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.  Sophomore forward Meredith Tice (Hershey, PA/Washington Pride) netted the Pioneers' lone goal of the evening late in the second period.  Vanessa Maines (Boxborough, MA/Boston Jr. Shamrocks) and Brittany DelleChiaie (Leominster, MA/The Winchendon School) each recorded an assist on the goal.

The Pioneers (8-11-3) hope to take two points as they host the Cardinals for game two of the ECAC West Conference weekend set on Sunday at 4 p.m. Plattsburgh has now won three of its last four games and improved to 16-5-2 overall, including a 14-1-2 ledger in conference play. 

Following 15 minutes of scoreless play to open the contest, the visiting Cardinals rattled off back-to-back goals, less than two minutes apart, to take a quick 2-0 lead.  Plattsburgh's leading scorer Teal Gove netted the team's first goal followed by an unassisted breakaway goal by freshman Emma Rutherford.

The second period played out very similar to the first, with consecutive Cardinal goals, just under two minutes apart, at 15:23 and 17:22, as the visitors pushed to a 4-0 advantage. However, this time the Pioneers would get on the board before the horn as Tice scored her fourth goal of the season at 19:40.

Rutherford completed the hat-trick 3:33 into the third period of play when she registered her 14th goal of the season.  The visitors went on to pour in two more goals before it was all said and done as they earned the six goal victory. 

Marissa Hotaling (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) stopped 12 shots in net for the Pioneers before being replaced by freshman Marissa McNamara (Camillus, NY/Lysander Lightning) midway through the third period.  McNamara made five saves in her second collegiate appearance for UC.

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