UTICA, NY – The Utica College women's lacrosse team opens up Empire 8 Conference play at home against Elmira College on Saturday. The game is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
 
Last Time Out: The Pioneers beat Morrisville 10-8 on the road on Wednesday afternoon … The Mustangs jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first 15:00 of the first half … Utica outscored Morrisville 5-3 for the rest of the half to go into halftime tied, 5-5 … UC scored the first two goals of the second half before the Mustangs tied the score at 7-7 with two goals of their own … The Pioneers scored three unanswered goals to secure the victory even though the Mustangs would net one more goal with 1:09 left to play.
 
Point Machine: Rebecca Plunkett (Kings Park, NY/Kings Park) leads the team with 22 points off of a team high 21 goals and one assist … She is second in the conference in draw controls per game (4.57) and sixth in the conference in goals per game (3.00) … Plunkett has scored at least one point in every game this season … She is currently on a 15 game scoring streak that dates back to March 27th of last season.
 
Leading The Way: Four players for Utica have 10 or more points on the season … Senior Courtney Wheeler (Ava, NY/Rome Free Academy) is second on the team with 15 points off of 12 goals and three assists … Sophomore Brooke Miller (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) is third on the team with 11 points off of four goals and seven assists … Miller is eighth in the conference in assists per game (1.00) … Freshman Katlyn Scarpinella (South Setauket, NY/Ward Melville) is fourth on the team with 10 points off of eight goals and two assists …  Fellow freshman Mary Stuhlman (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) is fifth on the team with five points off of four goals and one assist.
 
In The Net: The Pioneers have used three goalies this year … Kells Casey (Sandwich, MA/Kimball Union Academy) has played in and started five games this year and holds a 3-2 overall record … Erin Jacobson (Staten Island, NY/Curtis) has played in and started two games and is 0-1 while Amanda Lupo (Auburn, NY/Skaneateles) has played in one game and is 1-0 … Casey is ranked fifth in the conference in goals against average (9.11), fifth in the conference in saves per game (7.00), and sixth in the conference in save percentage (.432).
 
Leading The Defense: Junior Maggie Notter (Clifton Springs, NY/Midlakes) leads the team with 17 caused turnovers while senior Briana Estabrook (Tully, NY/Tully ) is second on the team with 14 … Notter is third in the conference in caused turnovers per game (2.43) while Estabrook is seventh in caused turnovers per game (2.00) … Wheeler is first on the team in groundballs (29) while Notter and Estabrook are tied for second with 23 apiece … Wheeler is third in the conference in groundballs per game (4.14) while Notter and Estabrook are tied for sixth in the conference in groundballs (3.29).
 
Against Elmira: Utica is 10-5 all-time against the Soaring Eagles with a 6-2 home record and a 4-3 record against the Soaring Eagles on the road … Utica beat Elmira last year on the road, 20-11 … The last time the Soaring Eagles beat UC was 6-5 in 2013.
 
Scouting The Soaring Eagles: Elmira is 1-3 overall with a 0-1 conference record … The Soaring Eagles fell 22-1 against conference opponent Ithaca the last time out … Elmira is led by Moorea Spoljaric (20 points off of 19 goals and one assist) and Hayley Baker (11 points off of seven goals and four assists) … Payton Rusin (30 saves, a .309 save percentage, and a 16.75 goals against average) is in the net for the Soaring Eagles.
 
Social Media: Make sure to follow live updates of the game on the Pioneers official Twitter feed: @UCPioneers… If you are at the game and on Twitter, or talking about the game on Twitter, make sure to use #UCMoose… You can also "Like" the Pioneers on Facebook at www.facebook.com/UCpioneers ... Fans can also follow the Pioneers on Instagram: UCPioneers.

Pioneers All-Access: Make sure to catch live video, audio and stats on Pioneers All-Access: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/utica/ … Audio is provided by WPNR 90.7 FM.
 
Looking Ahead: The Pioneers return to action on Wednesday as they travel to take on SUNY Poly in non-conference action … The game is scheduled for 5 p.m.