Utica, NY (11/23/14)- The Utica College women's hockey team let a two-goal lead slip away as it fell to nationally-ranked No. 2 Elmira College Sunday afternoon at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.  Five different players scored on the day for Utica.
 
Elmira scored two goals in the final 2:19 of the game to steal the victory.  With the win, the Soaring Eagles improve to 6-0 on the season and 4-0 in the ECAC West, while the Pioneers drop to 2-2. 
 
Junior Morgan Reed (Fort Myers, FL/Cushing Academy) led UC with one goal and two assists, while seniors Louise Steele-Norton (Avondale, PA/Millbrook School) and Nicole Schwartz (Danville, CA/San Jose Sharks) each had a goal and an assist.  Ashton Hogan was Elmira's top performer, as she tallied four points on three goals and one assist. 
 
The Soaring Eagles jumped out to a 1-0 lead just under five minutes into the game as Phoebe Piku netted her third of the year, assisted by Ashley Ryan.  Utica rebounded just 1:32 later as Steele-Norton netted her second goal in as many games.  Schwartz and freshman Kelly Critzer (West Salem, OH/Ohio Flames) assisted on the play. 
 
UC added another tally at 8:22 as Reed chipped a pass to Gabrielle Schnepp (Northville, MI/Belle Tire) to send her in on a breakaway.  Schnepp made a nice move to get around the Elmira goalie and slid the puck inside the right post for the short handed tally. 
Utica went up by two at 15:55 with a power play goal, assisted by Reed and Emily Coope (Phoenix, AZ/Colorado Tigers). 
 
The Soaring Eagles came out firing the in second stanza as they netted two goals in the first four minutes of the period to even the score. UC regained the lead at 13:23 as senior Nikki Kieffer (Rome, NY/Lysander Lightning) took a feed from Steele-Norton and rocketed a slap shot from the point.  It was short-lived however as Elmira was able to net the equalizer before the intermission to send the teams into the locker room tied 4-4. 
 
The visitors outscored Utica 3-1 in the final frame to remain unbeaten.  Hogan was able to capitalize on a Utica turnover deep in the zone to score the winner with just over two minutes remaining to complete the hat trick.  Elmira added an empty netter with just two seconds remaining to cap off the scoring. 
 
Utica was 1-for-2 on the power play, while Elmira was 1-for-4 with the man advantage.  Elmira outshot UC 40-32 on the day.  Sophomore Keira Goin (Dobbs Ferry, NY/Hotchkiss School) made 33 stops, while Kelcey Crawford and Kyle Nelson combined for 27 stops in net for the Soaring Eagles. 
 
The Pioneers return to action Saturday, Nov. 29 as they travel to Williamstown, MA for a match up against Williams College. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.
 
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