UTICA, NY- After winning two straight conference games, the Utica College women's lacrosse team looks to continue its win streak on the road against a tough Empire 8 opponent in Nazareth College on Saturday. The game is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.
 
Last Time Out: The Pioneers defeated Hartwick College on Wednesday 12-8... This win brought the Pioneers one step closer to making the Empire 8 Conference Tournament, as they moved into a tie for third place in the E8 standings... Stephanie Husnay (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) led the team with four goals and three assists… Brooke Miller (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy), Hailee DuMont (Wilkes-Barre, PA/James M. Coughlin), and Kaitlynn Palmer (Verona, NY/VVS) each had two goals while Lauren Wolff (Peabody, MA/Peabody) and Noelle Capriglione (New Milford, CT/New Milford) both scored one… UC also outshot the Hawks 37 to 21 and picked up 14-of-22 draw controls, led by Natalie Capriglione (New Milford, CT/New Milford) who had a team-high seven draw controls... Hali Vandermeulen (Walden, NY/Valley Central) picked up her sixth win of the season as she allowed eight goals and made 10 saves on 21 shots faced.
 
Miller Moves up All-Time List: After scoring two goals in Wednesday's win over Hartwick, senior attacker Brooke Miller (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) now has 104 career goals to take sole possession of seventh on the College's career goal scoring list… Miller currently has 127 career points with 104 goals and 23 assists in 58 games played.
 
Husnay Continues to Lead the Team: With seven points against Hartwick, freshman Stephanie Husnay (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) has a 10-point lead over Brooke Miller (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) as the team's leading scorer with 42 points (23 goals, 19 assists)... Husnay is also fifth in the Conference in assists per game (1.46) and she is ninth in points per game (3.23).
 
DuMont and Capriglione Lead the Midfield: Hailee DuMont (Wilkes-Barre, PA/James M. Coughlin) currently leads the team with 22 caused turnovers and she is sixth in the Empire 8 Conference with 1.69 caused turnovers per game... DuMont is also third on the team with 32 draw controls on offense... Behind DuMont, Natalie Capriglione (New Milford, CT/New Milford) has caused 20 turnovers and she ranks eighth in the Empire 8 with 1.54 caused turnovers per game… She also leads the team offensively with 43 draw controls and she is seventh in the E8 in draw controls per game (3.31).
 
Shutting the Door: After making 10 saves in the win over Hartwick, sophomore goalkeeper Hali Vandermeulen (Walden, NY/Valley Central) now has five games this season where she has made 10 or more saves... She made a career-high of 16 saves in the loss to Stevens on April 7... Vandermeulen is 6-5 this season with a 11.27 goals against average (7th in Empire 8) and a .483 save percentage (3^rd in Empire 8).
 
E8 Standings: UC is currently tied with Nazareth for third place in the conference standings at 4-2... Saturday's game will decide who remains in third with just three games left until the Empire 8 Conference Tournament... The four leading teams in the Empire 8 qualify to play in the Conference Tournament.

Scouting Nazareth: The Golden Flyers are 8-5 with a 4-2 conference record with wins over Sage, Houghton, Elmira and Alfred, and losses to Stevens and St. John Fisher… Nazareth is led by senior attacker Hailey Devona who has 49 points (31 goals, 18 assists) and graduate student Jamie Martin with 35 points… In goal, junior Brianna Rizzari is 8-5 in 13 starts with a 9.27 goals against average and a .582 save percentage… Nazareth has also outscored opponents 169-107 this season.

Against Nazareth: In 2017, Nazareth defeated Utica 14-9... Katlyn Scarpinella (South Setauket, NY/Ward Melville) scored three goals while Brooke Miller (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) and Hailee DuMont (Wilkes-Barre, PA/James M. Coughlin) both scored one… Hali Vandermeulen (Walden, NY/Valley Central) allowed six goals and made three saves on nine shots faced in a no decision start… UC won 15 draw controls compared to Nazareth's 10 as DuMont and Noelle Capriglione (New Milford, CT/New Milford) both had two draw controls each.  

Looking Ahead: UC will play its final home game of the season on Wednesday in a non-conference matchup against SUNY Canton... The game is scheduled to start at 4 p.m.