WASHINGTON, PA – The third-seeded Utica College field hockey team lost to top-seeded and host Washington & Jefferson 3-1 in the Empire 8 Conference Tournament Championship game on Saturday afternoon.  Utica's Rylee Meelan (Clinton, NY/Clinton) tied the game up with her third goal of the weekend 2:40 before the half, but the Presidents' caged two goals in the final 15 minutes of the contest to win the conference crown and an automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Field Hockey Tournament. 

Utica, which advanced to the finals with a 2-0 win over second-seeded St. John Fisher College on Friday, capped its season with a 9-10 overall record.  W&J improved to 13-4 overall on the season and finished the year with a perfect 9-0 record against Empire 8 opponents. 

Sofiya Bobrovnikova gave the home team a 1-0 lead when she netted her first goal of the season 11:47 into the first half of play.  The Pioneers answered with a goal from Meelan, unassisted, at the 32:30 marker of the first half to send the contest into the half knotted at 1-1.

Jenna Jaworski caged what proved to be the game-winner at 50:26 of the second half. Rachel Buyan then added an insurance goal for the President's in the 61^st minute, her 12^th tally of the season, to close out the scoring on the day.

Samantha Whitehouse (Greenwich, NY/Greenwich) made two saves in net for the Pioneers. Karlie Baran stopped four shots in the victory for Washington & Jefferson.

Utica was making its sixth trip to the conference tournament in program-history and first since 2014. The Pioneers won three straight Empire 8 titles from 2012-2014.