UTICA, NY - The Utica University women's lacrosse team will travel to SUNY Morrisville on Wednesday, March 22 at 6 p.m. before hitting the road once again to take on Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Follow Along: Morriville will provide live video through
https://boxcast.tv/view/morrisville-womens-lacrosse-vs-utica-university-plp3qhpnkrugzkr3sz0m and live stats at
https://sidearmstats.com/morrisvillestate/wlax/xlive.htm. On Saturday, RPI will have live video through
https://rpiathletics.com/sports/2014/3/18/WLAX_0318141848.aspx and live stats at
https://rpiathletics.com/sidearmstats/wlax/summary.
Mary Ruchalski Foundation: Utica's game at SUNY Morrisville will honor Mary Ruchalski and the Mary Ruchalski Foundation to raise awareness on the facts of pediatric cancer to others. The foundation honors the life of Mary Ruchalski whose world was turned upside down when she received a shocking cancer diagnosis at age 11. Although scared, she never let her disease change who she was. She continued to smile, to learn, to compete, to have fun, and most importantly, she continued to love. When Mary was receiving her treatments at Memorial Sloan Kettering, she never viewed herself as sick. She would think about the other children she saw there and want to help them. She would often walk the halls of MSK and say, "wow there are so many sick kids here, it is so sad." She never viewed herself as sick. It was this strength and bravery and strong love of life that inspired many. Mary will always be remembered as a fun loving, kindhearted girl and will be missed forever. The Mary Ruchalski Foundation raises funding for pediatric cancer research and helps support families who have a child undergoing treatment. The foundation has helped over 10 children and their families. The donation link can be found through
https://themaryruchalskifoundation.org/donate-now. Donations of any size are greatly appreciated.
Last Time Out: The Pioneers defeated the College of Mount Saint Vincent 17-8 on Saturday, March 18.
Grace Stuhlman (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) led the way with a career-high five goals and one assist.
Alyssa Drell (Mastic, NY/William Floyd) and
Ruby Ackerman (Bethel, CT/Bethel) each recorded a hat trick during the contest while Ackerman also tacked on one assist.
Samantha DeCondo (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) scored two goals with one assist.
Belicia Biette (Troy, NY/Columbia) recorded one goal with two assists while
Morgan Madore (Higganum, CT/Haddam-Killingworth) recorded one goal and one assist.
Alyssa Pisano (Hopewell Junction, NY/Arlington) and
Alexis Alteri (Clinton, NY/Clinton) each tallied one goal while
Devin Ryan (Orchard Park, NY/Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart),
Aana Blaszka (Hampstead, NH/Pinkerton Academy), and
Abigail Gerling (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) each recorded one assist.
Breese Burlingame (Binghamton, NY/Northfield Mount Hermon) picked up her third win of the season while recording six saves on fourteen shots on goal. Utica went 10-for-13 on clear attempts and forced 18 turnovers. The Pioneers were dominant, controlling the ball for major portions of the game including outshooting the Dolphins 34-19. Utica had an incredible first quarter outshooting Mount Saint Vincent 14-2 and outscoring them 7-0. The Pioneers dominated the first quarter with Stuhlman recording a hat trick while
Alyssa Drell (Mastic, NY/William Floyd) added two goals. DeCondo and Pisano also found the back of the net in Utica's strong first period. Utica's domination continued as the team led 12-3 at the half and would win the game 17-8.
Offensive Pair: Grace Stuhlman (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) and
Samantha DeCondo (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) have been spark plugs for the Pioneers over the course of the season so far. On the season, Stuhlman has nine goals in four games and DeCondo has found the back of the net on eleven different occasions. Both Pioneers rank top-10 in the Empire 8 for goals per game with Stuhlman eighth with 2.8 and DeCondo 10th with 2.6. With both playing side by side the Pioneers will look for both to help the team continue their success further on into the season.
Helping Hand: Belicia Biette (Troy, NY/Columbia) has been dishing dimes to her teammates since the season started. In four games, Biette has accumulated a team leading five assists and ranks sixth in the Empire 8 for assists per game with 1.4. The rookie also has accumulated three goals to go along with her impressive passing game and has become a prime facilitator for the Pioneers.
Good Luck Trying: Goalie
Breese Burlingame (Binghamton, NY/Northfield Mount Hermon) is having an excellent start to her Pioneer career as she is 3-1 with a .667 save percentage over four games this season. The freshman's goals against average is just 5.14 which is a ridiculous 1.96 greater than second place. The Binghamton, NY native's .667 save percentage is first in the Empire 8 and is .160 better than second place. Burlingame has had an exceptional start to her career and aims to keep the lockdown goaltending going.
About Morrisville: The Mustangs are 1-5 this season and earned their first win in its last outing on Saturday, March 18 topping SUNY Potsdam 19-15. Alana McDonald leads the way for the Mustangs offense with 15 goals this season including netting six against Potsdam. McDonald leads the team in goals (15) and points (22) while Aria Treadway is the team's top facilitator with nine assists this season. Maddie Baum is another scoring threat with ten goals this season. Rebecca Thomas sports a 1-5 record with a .406 save percentage against 225 shots faced this season.
Scouting RPI: RPI is 4-1 this season after beating Westfield State University 11-10 in its last outing on Monday, March 20. The Engineers have a very balanced offense with five players recording more than 14 points this season. The team's offense has also outscored opponents an incredible 73-45 this season and can light up the scoreboard in bunches. Megan Shay leads the team with 14 goals while Rylie Maready and Lauren DeLeo have 11 goals this season. Lisa Boehmer and Sophie Goddard are two more scoring options as both found the back of the net 10 times. Ella Graff is the team's top creator with eight assists thus far. Jenny Canfield has seen the bulk of the playing time in net and sports a 4-1 record with a .467 save percentage.
Up Next: The team will return home to host No. 18 SUNY Cortland on Tuesday, March 28 at 4 p.m.
