UTICA, NY- Three members of the Utica College field hockey team were named to the Empire 8 Conference All-Tournament team, announced Monday.  Seniors Samantha Whitehouse (Greenwich, NY/Greenwich) and Jordan Noga (Marcy, NY/Whitesboro) as well as junior Rylee Meelan (Clinton, NY/Clinton) were Utica's representatives on the squad.
 
Whitehouse was instrumental in Utica reaching the championship game as she pitched a 13-save shutout as Utica downed second-seeded St. John Fisher in the semifinal. Whitehouse finished the season ranked third in the Empire 8 with a .798 save percentage and she was second in saves (170).
 
Noga led the Utica defense that shut down the Conference's leading scorer, Emily Markarian, and allowed just 1.5 goals per game in the E8 tournament.  Noga capped off her career ranking third in the conference this season with six defensive saves.
 
Meelan had all three goals on the weekend for Utica.  On Friday, she had two second-half tallies as the Pioneers topped Fisher 2-0 in the semifinals.  She followed that up with her third of the weekend to tie the game at one in the first half of the Empire 8 Championship game.  She wrapped up the season with a career-high 12 goals and 30 points. 
 
Utica made 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.