Utica, NY (3/11/13) – The Utica College women's lacrosse team will be in search of its fourth straight victory as it welcomes the Sage Gators to Gaetano Stadium on Wednesday, March 13. Face-off is set for 4 p.m.

The Right Direction: The Pioneers are off to their best start in program history as they have yet to lose a contest in their first three competitions... They are in search of a trip to the conference playoffs for the first time since 2006... The team is also in the hunt for its best win streak since the 2006 season when it posted five straight wins.

Out in Front: Sophomores Morgan DuPont (Wynantskill, NY/Averill Park) and Megan Kane (Staten Island, NY/Tottenville), along with freshman Courtney Wheeler (Ava, NY/Rome Free Academy) are among the top performers for the Pioneers so far this season... Wheeler leads all players with 15 points... She has scored at least one goal and dished out at least one assist in each game so far this season... DuPont is a close second with 11 total points, grabbing seven of those 11 in their home opener victory on March 2... Kane has been on fire the last two games totaling eight goals, nine ground balls, and eight draw controls... She rounds out the top points for the team with ten.

Helping Out: Eight other players have tallied at least one goal on the season… Sophomore Patricia Kane (Staten Island, NY/Tottenville) has netted seven goals, while classmate Samantha Gebler (Vestal, NY/Vestal) has totaled two goals and two assists… Freshmen Colleen Dowling (Fairport, NY/Fairport) and Briana Estabrook (Tully, NY/Tully ) each have two goals and one assist… Julia Primps (Ossining, NY/Ossining), Lauren Gilmore (Marshfield, MA/Marshfield), Lindsey Gelles (Bethel Park, PA/Bethel Park), and Mary Morgan Marafino (Monroe, NY/Central Square) each have one goal on the year.

Leading the Empire 8: Senior Stephanie Belanger (Lewiston, ME/Lewiston) is leading the Empire 8 in three of the four categories for goalies…She holds the top spot in save percentage (57.9 %), goals-against (8) and goals-against average (4.00) and rounds out the Empire 8 sitting in fourth in saves with 11. Belanger earned the conference's first Goalie of the Week recognition for the week of March 5.

Scouting the Gators: The Sage Gators are coming off an 18-16 season-opening loss to Elms College… Freshman midfielder Mallory Hansen led all Gators with four goals... Junior Alayna Kaiser tallied four points on three goals and an assist... The only meeting between the two teams was last year as UC topped Sage 17-0… Patricia Kane (Staten Island, NY/Tottenville) and Vanessa Maines (Boxborough, MA/Acton-Boxborough Regional) each scored three goals on the day.

Looking Ahead: Utica will travel to Potsdam, NY on Friday for a non-conference match up against Clarkson University… Game time is set for 4 p.m.


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