UTICA, NY - The Utica University women's lacrosse team will open its 2023 season at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium against SUNY Poly on Wednesday, March 1 at 5 p.m. The team will then hit the road to face SUNY New Paltz on Thursday, March 2 at 3 p.m. The Pioneers will wrap up their week by returning home to face Plattsburgh State on Saturday, March 4 at 3 p.m.
 
Follow Along: Those who cannot attend the season opener can follow along with live video and/or stats at https://bit.ly/2wtxUV5. New Paltz will provide live video and/or stats via https://bit.ly/3ZsMtDm. For Saturday's home game you can tune in for live stats and/or video via https://bit.ly/2wtxUV5. 
 
Last Season in Review: The Pioneers went 11-5 last season sporting a 4-2 record in Empire 8 play while earning the third seed in the Empire 8 Conference Tournament. The team fell in a close 10-9 loss to Nazareth College in the semifinals. Utica's offense was outstanding last year as the team led the conference in goals per game (14.25), assists per game (7.00), and shots per game (35.19). The team started off hot last season with a 4-0 record, which set the tone for a successful season. The team accomplished a 4-0 record to start off the season two times in program history, the first being in 2020 before the season was canceled due to COVID and again last season. 
 
Leading the Pioneers: Kristin St. Hilaire will be entering her 16th season as head coach of the Utica University women's lacrosse team. She is the program's all-time winningest coach as she has compiled a 127-91 overall record to go along with a 54-51 ledger in the highly competitive Empire 8 Conference. She has coached nine IWLCA All-Region selections, and has had a winning record in each of the last eleven seasons with the program. Her players consistently receive Academic Honor Roll honors from the IWLCA as well. The 2022 season was another resounding success, as the Pioneers closed with a record of 11-5 overall, with a 4-2 conference mark. The Pioneers reached the Empire 8 Conference tournament for a fourth straight season where a tournament has been held. Eight Pioneers were selected to the All-Conference teams, including E8 Goaltender of the Year Claire Frier (Lafayette, NY/Lafayette). Frier was also selected to the IWLCA All-Region Second Team. Five-year members of the team departed the program following the season with a remarkable 47 wins in their time at Utica. The Pioneers were especially formidable at home during the season with a 6-1 record at Gaetano Stadium. Assisting St. Hilaire for her second season will be Hali Vandermeulen. She spent the 2021 season at Washington & Jefferson College where she helped guide the Presidents to a 10-1 overall record and their second NCAA Tournament appearance. 
 
Season Outlook: The Pioneers' regular season will run from February 22, 2023 until April 29, 2023. If qualified, the Empire 8 Conference Tournament will be held from May 3, 2023 until May 6, 2023. The Pioneers will play 16 games, eight of which will be home. Within these eight home games include one very important game for not only the lacrosse team, but for the entire Utica University community. April 15, 2023 will be the Mike Parnell game in honor of the late Head Men's Lacrosse Coach, Mike Parnell. The team will open its season with eight non-conference games which will be between February 22, 2023 until March 25, 2023. The team  will start Empire 8 Conference play on April 1, 2023. The non-conference opponents for the Pioneers include SUNY Cortland, SUNY New Paltz, SUNY Poly, Plattsburgh State, Oswego State, Mount Saint Vincent, SUNY Morrisville, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. 
 
Departures: Utica comes into the new season without a plethora of key pieces from the 2022 season in Emily Rossi (Verona, NY/Vernon-Verona-Sherrill), Lexi Saccia,Sydney Scaccia (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro), Addison Green (Marcy, NY/Whitesboro), Kelsey Trainor (Wallkill, NY/Valley Central), Deanna Rosato (Utica, NY/Notre Dame), Ashley Guerra, Clair Frier, and Gianamarrie Pizza. Rossi scored 21 goals and 25 assists last season and earned Sportswoman of the year. Lexi Scaccia (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) ranked third in the program's record book, scoring 39 goals and four assists last season, winning the Senior Athlete award. She made three appearances on an all-conference team. She led utica with 39 goals last season, finishing fourth on the squad with 43 points. Scaccia was sixth in E8 in points per game and draw controls per game. She finished her career ranked third in career points, and sixth in career goals at Utica. Sydney Scaccia (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) was a three-time all-conference selection in both field hockey and lacrosse. She earned all-conference four years straight, and second-team all E8 two years in a row. Scaccia finished second on the team in ground balls and caused turnovers. She ranks first in program history for games started in her career. Green scored 19 goals and five assists. Guerra was another top scorer for the Pioneers, last season she scored 38 goals and 16 assists. She led the team with 54 points, third in E8 with 3.86 points per game. She ranked third in career points, sixth in career goals, and second in career draw controls at Utica. Frier, the goalie for the Pioneers was named Empire 8 Goalie of the Year and All-conference honors. She finished second in the conference with 10.68 goals against average, and had a .430 save percentage. She ranks fifth in program history with 225 saves in her career and is third all-time in career wins. These nine pioneers helped the team in more ways than just on the field. With this many departures they will be looking for a lot of players to step up to the occasion and take over in 2023. 
 
Captains: Samantha DeCondo (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) was named third team all-conference scoring 50 points last season. She finished with 33 goals and 17 assists. She placed within the E8 for points per game, ninth in goals per game, and tenth in assists per game. DeCondo accumulated 33 goals and 17 assists last season. Another captain, Daniela Muscari (Millbrook, NY/Millbrook) coming off a nine goal and two assist season looks to bring her energy to the offense again this year. Megan Hourican (Staten Island, NY/Curtis) ancored a group that allowed the fewest goals in the empire 8 last year, while collecting five ground balls and causing three turnovers. 
 
Defenders: Ella Stanton (Macedon, NY/Palmyra-Macedon), Samantha Shilling (Hampstead, MD/Manchester Valley), Megan Hourican (Staten Island, NY/Curtis), Ella Lindheimer (Stephentown, NY/Averill Park), Aana Blaszka (Hampstead, NH/Pinkerton Academy), Delaney Dunham (Auburn, NY/Jordan Elbridge), Nicole Cusanelli (Brewster, NY/Brewster), Mary Pecors, Devin Ryan (Orchard Park, NY/Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart), and Mara Cunningham (Queensbury, NY/Queensbury). Cunningham earned all-conference last season, finishing second on the squad with 37 draw controls and 20 ground balls and 7 points. She helped Utica to the second-best defense in the conference along with 9.25 goals per game. When the team was a woman down, they scored 8 goals which was the top number in the conference. 
 
Goalies:  Last season, Shaylynn Palmer (Kirkville, NY/East Syracuse Minoa), playing in seven games last season collected two wins, causing one turnover and had 25 saves last season with a .641 save percentage. In the teams last game against SUNY Poly she gobbled up 10 saves. Newcomers Abigail Reed (Glen Rock, NJ/Glen Rock) and Breese Burlinggame join the team this season looking to make an impact between the pipes as well. 
 
Newcomers: The team will welcome 11 newcomers to the roster. Midfielders and attackers Belicia Biette (Troy, NY/Columbia), Ruby Ackerman (Bethel, CT/Bethel), Isabella Short (Hopewell Junction, NY/Arlington), Jessica Marciano (Rochester, NY/Churchville Chili) and Ella Jentsch (Rosendale, NY/Our Lady of Lourdes) will look to replace the production of Ashley Guerra, Emily Rossi (Verona, NY/Vernon-Verona-Sherrill), Lexi Scaccia (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) and Addison Green (Marcy, NY/Whitesboro). On the defensive side of the field, Ella Stanton (Macedon, NY/Palmyra-Macedon), Samantha Schilling, Ella Jentsch (Rosendale, NY/Our Lady of Lourdes) and Mary Pecora (Drums, PA/Hazelton Area Academy of Sciences) are searching for reps with the departures of Syndney Scaccia and Kelsey Trainor (Wallkill, NY/Valley Central). 
 
Scouting Poly: The Wildcats will open their season against Utica after going 1-12 last season. Poly is led by Molly Burdick who led the team with 35 goals and eight assists last season. A key loss for the team is Rachel Salmon who was second on the team in points with 26 and had 22 goals with four assists last season. Madison Bastien was another top contributor with ten goals and three assists as a freshman. These three players accounted for an incredible 82 of the team's 85 points last season. In net, the team is starting freshman Jayden Brown after losing its top goalie last year in Alycia Lugo. Lugo started all 13 games with 179 saves last season.
 
About New Paltz: New Paltz will open its season on Wednesday, March 1 at 3 p.m. hosting St. Joseph's College Long Island. The team will then host the Pioneers on Thursday, March 2 at 3 p.m. The Hawks went 6-10 last season, having 167 goals and 93 assists and averaging 25.4 shots per game. Top scorer Kaitlyn Shaw, having 50 goals and 11 attempts last year, Kaitie Zito, another top scorer for the Hawks, had 40 goals and 8 attempts last year will both be returning for another season. Utica is 6-0 all-time against the Hawks, and have faced off every season for the last three seasons.
 
Looking at Plattsburgh: The Cardinals are 1-0 this season after beating Russell Sage 14-11 on February 26 in the team's road opener. Plattsburgh will head to Northfield, VT to battle with Norwich University on Wednesday, March 1 at 3 p.m. before clashing with the Pioneers on Saturday, March 4 at 3 p.m. Lindsey Guzzeta has started off red hot with five goals on five shots this season after scoring 25 goals last season. Caroline Noia and Erica Dickinson each recorded a hat trick against Sage and Dickinson looks to be a big part of the team's offense as a freshman. Johanna Malone returns this season as the team's top goalie after splitting reps last season. Malone recorded five saves against 21 shots and picked up a win against Sage.
 
Up Next: The Pioneers will host Oswego State on Wednesday, March 8 at 4 p.m.