Box Score Utica 4, Stevenson 1- Final

Owings Mills, MD (2/17/13)- The Utica College women's hockey team wrapped up regular season play with a 4-1 win over Stevenson University on Sunday afternoon.  Freshman Morgan Reed (Fort Myers, FL/Cushing Academy) led the way with two assists on the day.

Utica opened the scoring at 15:18 of the first period as junior Kristen Beckman (Arnold, MD/Northwood School) put in her second of the year, assisted by Reed and junior Megan Myers (Las Vegas, NV/LA Selects).  The Pioneers added another tally just two minutes later as sophomore Nicole Schwartz (Danville, CA/San Jose Sharks) beat Stevenson net minder Mackenzie Bruch for her sixth of the season.  Sophomore Louise Steele-Norton (Avondale, PA/Millbrook School) assisted on the goal.

The Mustangs cut the lead in half as McKenzie Taggart scored shorthanded at 3:26 of the second period.  Kristen Webber and Molly O'Neil assisted on Taggart's sixth of the year.

The Pioneers controlled most of the play in the third period, and added two more scores to seal the victory.  First, senior Carmen Johnson (Falls Church, VA/Washington Pride) found the back of the net at 11:17 of the final frame. Johnson gathered a puck in the slot and riffled one over the shoulder of Bruch to put UC on top 3-1.  Reed and senior Meghan Willett (Worcester, MA/Cushing Academy) assisted on Johnson's seventh of the year.  Then, with just a minute and a half remaining, senior Meghan McMahon (Gardner, MA/St. Marks (MA)) was able to steal the puck from a Stevenson defender and fire it into the open net for her fourth of the season.

UC improved upon its nation-leading penalty kill as it held Stevenson scoreless on 14 power play attempts on the weekend.  Senior Marissa Hotaling (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) stopped 19 shots in net for Utica, while Bruch made 34 saves for the Mustangs in the losing effort.

The Pioneers improve to 15-8-2 on the season.  UC will be making its 11th trip to the ECAC West Conference Tournament in the program's 12-year history.  The Pioneers will host the first round of the playoffs next weekend.  Date, time, and opponent are still to be determined.  Check out www.ucpioneers.com for post season information.



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