UTICA, NY- The Utica College women's lacrosse team travels to Rochester, NY on Friday for the semifinals of the Empire 8 Conference Tournament against second-seeded Nazareth College.  Game time is scheduled for 4 p.m.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Pioneers made quick work out of their first-round game against Keuka College on Tuesday, coming away with a 20-4 win… Lexi Scaccia (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) led the way with seven points (five goals, two assists), while Lauren Wolff (Peabody, MA/Peabody) was right behind her with six points on two goals and a team-high four assists… Stephanie Husnay (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) and Samantha DeCondo (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) finished with five points and four points, respectively… Addison Green (Marcy, NY/Whitesboro) and Alyssa Pisano (Hopewell Junction, NY/Arlington) each had multi-goal games, and Devin Ryan (Orchard Park, NY/Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart), Kristin Krieg (Schenectady, NY/Guilderland), Emily Rossi (Verona, NY/Vernon-Verona-Sherrill), and Katie Crofoot (Montgomery, NY/Valley Central) also scored.
 
HOW THEY GOT HERE: Utica picked up the No. 3 seed in the tournament after finishing 4-2 in conference play during the regular season… This marks the third straight year UC has qualified for the tournament… The Pioneers lead the conference in a number of statistical categories, including: goals per game (15.57), woman-down goals (five), woman-up goals (10), caused turnovers per game (12.57), and ground balls per game (22.86)… Nazareth earned the No. 2 seed in the tournament after going 5-1 in conference play during the regular season... Naz's only conference loss came to St. John Fisher College. 
 
LEAN ON LEXI: Junior Lexi Scaccia (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) leads the conference and ranks 41^st in the nation with 61 points on the season… Scaccia is also first in the Empire 8 (45^th nationally) in goals scored (42)… She is currently in the midst of an 18-game goal scoring streak, dating back to the first game of 2020… She is tied for fourth in the College's single-season record book for points in a season (61).
 
DECONDO HEATING UP: Sophomore Samantha DeCondo (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) has been almost unstoppable as of late… She has totaled 32 points (26 goals, six assists) in her last seven games… DeCondo is currently second in the E8 with 38 goals on the year and she is tied for second in total points (46)… Utica is 9-3 this season in games where DeCondo has at least two goals. 
 
HOW ABOUT HUSNAY: Senior Stephanie Husnay (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) is third on the team with 42 points (19 goals, 23 assists)… She is currently second in the conference in assists this season and she ranks second in the program record book with 69 career assists… Husnay has finished in the top five in scoring on the team in each of her four seasons at Utica. 
 
HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLFF: Senior Lauren Wolff (Peabody, MA/Peabody) is third on the team in both goals (21) and assists (16) and she is fourth in points (37)… She is in the midst of an 11-game scoring streak… Wolff currently ranks third all-time with 62 career assists.
 
I'LL TAKE THAT: Freshman Alyssa Pisano (Hopewell Junction, NY/Arlington) leads the team and ranks third in the conference with 51 draw controls… Lexi Scaccia (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) is right behind her with 46 draw controls on the year… Scaccia is also currently tied for third all-time with Megan Kane '15 with 169 draw controls… Scaccia leads the team with 21 caused turnovers, while freshman Aana Blaszka (Hampstead, NH/Pinkerton Academy) has picked up a team-high 28 ground balls.
 
IN THE CREASE: Junior Claire Frier (Lafayette, NY/Lafayette) is tied for fourth in the conference with a .448 save percentage… She is also fourth in goals against average (9.72) among goalies who have played at least 200 minutes this season.  Frier is currently tied for third in single-season wins at UC as she has racked up nine wins this season. 
 
WE MEET AGAIN: This will be the third meeting between Utica and Nazareth this season… The Golden Flyers had the upper hand in the previous two meetings, winning 15-9 and 13-9… This semifinal matchup pits the conference's top offense (Utica) with 15.57 goals per game against the second-ranked defense (Nazareth) with 7.91 goals against per game… Additionally, Nazareth's offense ranks third in the conference (13.18 goals per game), while Utica's defense is third in the E8 (8.14 goals against per game). 
 
SCOUTNG NAZ: The Golden Flyers are led by sophomore Emma States, who is tied with Lexi Scaccia (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) for third in the conference with 3.00 goals per game… States is fifth in the conference with 4.00 points per game… Goalie Katie Lawrence is tied with Frier for fourth in the E8 in save percentage (.448). 
 
LOOKING AHEAD: Friday's winner will meet the winner of St. John Fisher-Hartwick in the Empire 8 Championship game on Sunday.  Location and game time are to be determined.