UTICA, NY - the Pioneers welcomed new conference foe Brockport to ABM Field on Saturday evening with the hopes of notching a huge Empire 8 win while also dropping the Golden Eagles down the standings column. Early on, it seemed like that goal might come to fruition, as Utica made sure that the game stayed in their offensive half for nearly the entire first quarter. The Golden Eagles eventually found their footing though, scoring a goal right before halftime and then using the midway break to craft a game plan that allowed them to pull away in the second half, securing a 3-1 win and keeping their place near the top of the Empire 8 standings.
 
The Pioneers were very dangerous on Saturday night despite the multi-score loss, as they outshot the Golden Eagles by a tally of 18-12 and also landed 14 of those shots on goal for a 78% accuracy rate.
 
Utica also out-gained the Golden Eagles in the penalty corner department, getting 10 chances from the backline as opposed to seven chances from their opponent.
 
Alyssa Pisano (Hopewell Junction, NY/Arlington) scored the lone Pioneer goal of the contest, stepping in front of the goalkeeper on a Mia Benincasa (Gansevoort, NY/South Glens Falls) crossing pass to slide the ball easily into the net and cut the deficit to just one score early in the fourth quarter. Pisano added to her team-leading goal tally, now having 11 scores in 2024.
 
Benincasa also added another assist to her total, with the Freshman sensation having the third most points on the squad (19)  behind Pisano and another senior in Mackenzie Mix (Camden, NY/Camden). The rookie forward was also very active offensively, ripping 10 shots and seeing nine of them end up on-goal.
 
Mix and Pisano also added two shots on goal each in the match.
 
Freshman goalkeeper Ismiah ChinQuee (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) also saw her second start in goal for the Pioneers, recording 8 saves in a great effort.
 
The Pioneers came charging out of the gate in the contest, launching nine shots and earning six corners in the first quarter alone. Utica had 50% of its shot attempts and 60% of its corner attempts through the first 15 minutes, looking for an early lead but getting shut out by some amazing goalie play on Brockport's end.
 
The Golden Eagles flipped the script in the second quarter though, only allowing a single Pioneer shot and no corners while sending in seven shots of their own and generating three chances from the corner.
 
Brockport managed to push one across to give themselves a 1-0 lead just before the halftime buzzer.
 
Play was pretty even throughout the third quarter until Brockport sent in another score late in the frame for a 2-0 lead heading into the decisive final 15 minutes.
Pisano struck early in the final period, bringing the score back to 2-1, however the 1-goal deficit would be expanded shortly after as Brockport found their third score on the very next corner, sending the game to its final score at 3-1 Golden Eagles.
 
The Pioneers will be on a break until next weekend when they meet Russell Sage on Casamento Field for their final regular season contest. The matchup will take place at 11:00 AM this Saturday.