ELMIRA, NY- The Utica College women's lacrosse team scored nine goals in the first half en route to a 15-6 victory over Elmira College Saturday afternoon in Empire 8 Conference action. 
 
With the win, the Pioneers have now won four straight and improve to 5-3 overall and 2-0 in the E8.  UC will have a full week off before returning home to host conference foe, Alfred University.  Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m.
 
Utica jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first 4:26 of action behind a pair of goals from senior Rebecca Plunkett (Kings Park, NY/Kings Park) and one tally each by Katlyn Scarpinella (South Setauket, NY/Ward Melville) and Brooke Miller (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy).  The teams traded scores over the next nine minutes before Utica pulled away in the final minutes to take a commanding 9-2 lead into halftime.  Miller capped off her hat trick with two goals just 17 seconds apart, while Maggie Notter (Clifton Springs, NY/Midlakes) netted her first career goal.
 
Plunkett finished with four goals on the day to move into fifth place on the College's career scoring list with 152 career points.  Scarpinella had two goals of her own while Sara Hennessey (East Syracuse, NY/East Syracuse Minoa) had two assists.  Colleen Dowling (Fairport, NY/Fairport), Hailee DuMont (Wilkes-Barre, PA/James M. Coughlin), and Mary Stuhlman (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) each had one goal and one assist.  Noelle Capriglione (New Milford, CT/New Milford ) and Rachel Gelina (Westfield, MA/Westfield) also scored for Utica.
 
Plunkett had a game-high five draw controls while Notter caused three turnovers and scooped up a team-best six ground balls.
 
Freshman Hali Vandermeulen (Walden, NY/Valley Central) made nine saves in just over 46 minutes of work to pick up the win, while Amanda Lupo (Auburn, NY/Skaneateles) turned aside five shots.  Their counterpart, Lindsay Wargo made 13 saves in the loss.