UTICA, NY – The Utica College women's lacrosse team's second half rally fell short as visiting Stevens Institute of Technology earned a 13-8 victory in Empire 8 Conference action on Saturday at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium.  The Pioneers outscored the Ducks 4-1 in the first 16:43 of the second half to cut their deficit to just two goals, 9-7, but Stevens answered with four consecutive goals down the stretch to earn the five goal victory.

Utica senior Courtney Wheeler (Ava, NY/Rome Free Academy) netted two goals and added one assist to pace the Pioneers on senior day.  Junior Rebecca Plunkett (Kings Park, NY/Kings Park) added two goals, while freshman Noelle Capriglione (New Milford, CT/New Milford Greenwave) picked up her first collegiate goal.

Utica's record moved to 6-5 overall and 1-2 in the Empire 8, while Stevens improved to 6-5 overall and 3-1 in conference play. The Pioneers return to action at Houghton College next Saturday (12 p.m.).

Plunkett got the ball rolling as she netted the game's opening goal off a free position to give the Pioneers an early 1-0 lead just 1:34 into the contest.  Stevens then rattled off six consecutive goals to take a 6-1 lead with 12:35 left in the first half of play. 

Both teams each registered two goals before the halftime horn sounded and the score was set at 8-3 in favor of the Ducks after 30 minutes of action. Utica's Brooke Miller (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) scored a transition goal, from Colleen Dowling (Fairport, NY/Fairport), and Wheeler added the final goal of the first half to cut UC's deficit to five goals, with 11 seconds to go in the half.

UC made its push in the second half, scoring four of the first five goals after halftime. Freshman Katlyn Scarpinella (South Setauket, NY/Ward Melville) netted her 13^th goal of the season at 27:19, before Noelle Capriglione (New Milford, CT/New Milford Greenwave) added her first collegiate goal at 22:35 to make it a 9-5 game.  Dowling and Plunkett then netted back to back goals to make it a two score game, 9-7, with 13:17 left in regulation.

Stevens answered with four straight tallies in a span of 7:18 to put the contest out of reach. 

Stevens was led by four goals each from Kathleen Kalbian and Erika Wilcox.

UC held the advantage in the draw control category on the day, 13-10.  Plunkett led UC with five draw controls, while Dowling added three of her own. Plunkett currently ranks third all-time at Utica with 145 career draw controls.  Mary Morgan Marafino (Monroe, NY/Central Square) added two caused turnovers for the Pioneers and Wheeler chipped in with two ground balls. 

The visitors outshot the Pioneers 25-21 on the afternoon and also won the ground ball battle 22-13.

Utica starting goalie Kells Casey (Sandwich, MA/Kimball Union Academy) finished the day with six saves, all in the second half, while freshman Amanda Lupo (Auburn, NY/Skaneateles) saw 11:07 of action between the pipes and stopped two shots.  Stephanie Schnelzer made eight saves in the victory for Stevens.