Box Score
Utica 5, Cortland 2 - ECAC Women's West Hockey Final

UTICA, NY (November 15, 2013) – The Utica College women's hockey team earned its first win of the young season as the Pioneers topped visiting Cortland State 5-2 in ECAC Women's West Conference play at the Utica Memorial Auditorium Friday afternoon. Six different players scored at least two points for the Pioneers including senior All-American Megan Myers (Las Vegas, NV/LA Selects) who netted a game-high two goals.  Nicole Schwartz (Danville, CA/San Jose Sharks), Vanessa Maines (Boxborough, MA/Boston Jr. Shamrocks) and Gabrielle Schnepp (Northville, MI/Belle Tire) each added one goal and one assist for the Pioneers. 

Utica (1-2, 1-2 ECAC West) trailed 1-0 early in the contest after Cortland's Katie Gili found the back of the net for the first time this season just 22 seconds into the game.  The Pioneers answered with four consecutive goals in a span of 17 minutes to essentially seal the victory for the home squad. 

Maines, a senior, knotted the score at 1-1 in the fourth minute of the contest, while Myers and Nicole Schwartz (Danville, CA/San Jose Sharks) each added a goal to close out the first period with the Pioneers ahead 3-1.  Schwartz's first tally of the season came shorthanded and proved to be the eventual game-winner. 

Myers lit the lamp again, her fourth point of the season, early in the second period to give UC a commanding 4-1 lead.  Cortland answered to cut UC's lead to 4-2 when Gwen Paul netted her first of the season in the 15th minute of the second period, but that was all the scoring the visitors would get as UC goalie Jennifer Hamel (Ithaca, NY/Northwood School) turned away a total of 22 shots en route to her first win of the year. 

Freshman Gabrielle Schnepp (Northville, MI/Belle Tire) added an insurance tally on the power-play with less than three minutes to go to seal the three goal victory for the Pioneers. 

Utica's Morgan Reed (Fort Myers, FL/Cushing Academy) and Kristen Beckman (Arnold, MD/Northwood School) each tallied two assists on the afternoon, while Kelsey Dowdall (Smiths Falls, ONT/Nepean), Janessa Haasbeek (Grand Forks, ND/Canadian International Hockey Academy) and Madison Christoff (Danville, CA/San Ramon Valley) were all credited with their first assist of the season. 

Utica out shot Cortland 31-24 and the Pioneers went 1-for-3 on the power-play.  Utica's Penalty-kill unit was perfect, holding the visitors to an 0-for-4 performance with a skate advantage. 

The Pioneers turn right back around tomorrow when they travel to Cortland (1-3-1, 0-1 ECAC West) to take on the Red Dragons in game two of the weekend home-and-home conference clash.  The puck is scheduled to drop tomorrow at 2 p.m.