Box Score
Canton, NY (9/1/2013) – The Utica College field hockey team fell into a 1-0 hole late in the first half, but rallied with three unanswered second half goals to defeat host St. Lawrence 3-1, at the St. Lawrence Invitational on Sunday. The Pioneers, who received votes in the NFHCA National Preseason Poll, have opened the season 2-0 for the second consecutive year and they evened their record against St. Lawrence to 5-5 in ten meetings all-time. 

Freshman Emily Gascon (Chenango Forks, NY/Greene) led the Pioneers with one goal and one assist while Jessica Franklin (Delevan, NY/Pioneer) and Becki Vivacqua (Yorkville, NY/New York Mills Jr-Sr High) each added a goal of their own as the Pioneers rallied from the early deficit.

St. Lawrence scored the only goal of the first half with 1:48 to go in the period as junior Ali Ferenczy took a pass from senior Emma Berry and buried her first of the season from right in front of UC goalie Kells Casey (Sandwich, MA/Kimball Union Academy), hitting the shot to the far post. Casey finished the day with three saves in the cage for UC.

That was the bulk of the offense for the Saints, who led in shots 10-7 at the half, but mustered only one shot to Utica's 18 in the second half.

Jessica Franklin (Delevan, NY/Pioneer) tied the score for the Pioneers 9:37 into the second half as she scored from right in front during a scramble in the Saint goal mouth after a penalty corner. Utica took the lead just over five minutes later when Gascon scored her second of the season, putting back a rebound after Saint goalie Nicole Matos made a save on a shot by Adriana Surprenant (Utica, NY/New York Mills Jr-Sr High) at 49:58.

The Pioneers sealed the victory when Gascon rolled a pass across the goal mouth to a wide open Becky Vivacqua, who put the ball into the empty net as Matos dove to try to break up the play at 58:14.

Utica ended up with a 25-11 edge in shots on goal and each team had eight penalty corners, the Pioneers gaining a 6-1 advantage in the second half after the Saints had seven to Utica's two in the first half. Matos finished with 13 saves for the game and 27 for the weekend for the Saints.

Utica returns to action on Friday when it travels to nearby Morrisville State to take on the Mustangs in a  non-conference match-up at 7 p.m. The Pioneers' home-opener is just one week from today when they host University of Rochester at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium (2 p.m.).