UTICA, NY - The Utica College women's lacrosse team tied its best ever start to a season in program history on Tuesday. Utica scored six of the first seven goals in the game, and maintained a lead of at least two goals on the visitors the rest of the way as they topped Oswego by an 11-7 score at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium.

The win is a fourth straight for the Pioneers, and the squad ties a program-best start as they open the season 6-1 for just the second time in program history. The last team to start 6-1 was the 2013 team that won a then-school record nine games. The 2013 edition of the Pioneers was also the last to beat Oswego before this afternoon.   Utica also improved to 3-0 at home this season and is unbeaten in its last six Gaetano Stadium appearances. Utica needs just two more wins to secure a winning regular season for an eighth consecutive year, and just four more wins to tie their 2018 school record for wins. 

Three players had four points each to set the Utica attack on the right course to victory. Kaitlynn Palmer (Verona, NY/VVS) built off a big day on Monday with three goals and an assist on Tuesday. Lauren Wolff (Peabody, MA/Peabody) and Katlyn Scarpinella (South Setauket, NY/Ward Melville) each tacked on a goal and three assists. Hali Vandermeulen (Walden, NY/Valley Central) made 11 saves on eighteen shots. Sydney Scaccia (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) had a terrific defensive game with five caused turnovers. Oswego's Brigid Regin led the Lakers with two goals and three assists for five points.

The Pioneers out-shot Oswego 25-18 and controlled fourteen of twenty draws in the matchup while earning nine free position chances.

Utica was playing its second game in as many days, but any signs of fatigue were nowhere to  be found as the Pioneers came out with a brisk start. It was Wolff who provided the early offensive catalyst with a pair of assists as she found Palmer at 28:38, and Lexi Scaccia (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) at 25:24. After Oswego cut the score to 2-1, Wolff struck again with a goal of her own.

The run continued as Scaccia and Palmer each scored again, with Palmer's goal coming a player up, and Scarpinella got on the board assisted by Wolff with 12:32 to go in the first half to take a 6-1 lead. The Lakers trimmed into their deficit from there with a pair of tallies to close out the first half with Utica leading 6-3.

Just under two minutes into the second half, Oswego's Tori Laneve fired the first salvo of the second half with an early tally to cut the lead to two. Palmer's third goal re-established a three goal lead for the Pioneers less than a minute later. An unassisted score by the Lakers' Brigid Regin knocked the lead down to two yet again, but the two goal cushion would be as close as Utica would allow Oswego to be. The Pioneers scored four of the game's last six goals with Stephanie Husnay (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro), Jessie Biegel (Ridge, NY/Longwood), Hailee DuMont (Wilkes-Barre, PA/James M. Coughlin), and Natalie Capriglione (New Milford, CT/New Milford) all notching their first and only goals of the day as the Pioneers went on to win 11-7.

The Pioneers look to continue their remarkable start on Saturday as they open Empire 8 play against Stevens Institute of Technology. The matchup is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.