WESLEY CHAPEL, FL - Utica met Adrian in this year's Sunshine Turkey Classic Championship on Saturday in the Sunshine State. A matchup of two top-10 teams did not disappoint, as the two teams battled back and forth. The Pioneers had a response for every Bulldog attack during the first two periods, locking the game at two apiece entering the final period. An early Bulldog goal in the third period was too much for the Pioneers to overcome though, as they fell by a 3-2 decision in a heavyweight bout, achieving second place in this season's Sunshine Turkey Classic.
 
 Riley Calhoun (New Hartford, NY/Plattsburgh State University (NCAA DIII)) and Hailey Modlin (Phoenix, AZ/Boston Shamrocks) had the two scores for the Pioneers in the tournament finale, with Calhoun, Autumn Mish (Long Lake, NY/University of New Hampshire (NCAA DI)), and Jordan Kowalski (Chicopee, MA/Plattsburgh State (NCAA DIII)) contributing assists.
 
Angela Hawthorne (Santa Clara, CA/Meijer) had a heroic effort in net, stopping 43 shots in her 60 minutes of gametime. Words can't really explain just how otherworldly Hawthorne's performance was, as she somehow got behind a handful of surefire Adrian goals.
 
As a whole, the Pioneers fought hard on the penalty kill, not allowing a single Bulldog power play score despite enduring eight minutes of player-down ice time.
 
The Pioneers were also extremely efficient on the night, making the most of their best opportunities to record their two scores.
 
The Pioneers fell to 9-2 on the year, and secured second place in the stacked Sunshine Turkey Classic Tournament.
 
Game Summary: Adrian began the matchup with a commanding stretch of possession, holding the puck in the Pioneers defensive zone for nearly the entire first eight minutes of the matchup. Despite launching a large volume of attempts over the opening stages of the game, Hawthorne stood her ground and looked to notch an encore performance after a masterful start against Norwich the day before. Hawthorne kept the Bulldogs off the scoreboard early, allowing for her side to begin organizing a few effective attacks.
 
The Pioneers hit a little roadblock around the nine minute mark though, as they underwent their first penalty kill of the championship matchup. Hawthorne was up for the task though, taking down a couple redirection shots and making two back-to-back glove saves in the open net, directly stopping the Bulldogs from finding the game's opening tally. Hawthorne's jaw-dropping goal line saves provided some juice to the Pioneer offense, immediately causing the Orange and Blue to pick up steam.
 
Directly following the successful penalty kill, the Pioneers employed an aggressive forecheck, with Kowalksi and Calhoun causing a major disruption behind the Bulldog net. Within the chaos, Kowalski managed to find Calhoun who had drifted to the near post, with the New Hartford native slotting the puck away underneath the Adrian goalkeeper to give Utica a surprise 1-0 lead. 
 
The Pioneers had a chance to really steal the energy in the building after their first score, with an aggressive charge from Stefanini resulting in the first Adrian penalty of the match. A solid stand from the Bulldogs saw Utica come up empty though, with the game remaining at 1-0.
 
Adrian managed to find a crack in the Pioneer defense, leveling the game at one with about four minutes left in the first period.
 
Some more spectacular play from Hawthorne sent the game to the first intermission at a 1-1 deadlock.
 
Just to emphasize how absurd Hawthorne's first period was, the graduate goalkeeping guru kept the Bulldogs to just one score despite the Michigan-based side outshooting Utica 21-2 in the opening 20 minutes.
 
The Bulldogs broke through again early in the second period, scoring less than a minute after the restart to take a 2-1 lead.
 
Play continued with both teams beginning to settle in and share an equal amount of opportunities. A costly turnover from the Pioneers followed by an open-ice hooking call sent them to their second player disadvantage of the game. The Pioneers stayed aggressive during the player-down time though, forcing the Bulldogs to play with an extra member on defense to snuff out any counterattack attempts by speed threat Kaci Ryder (Shrewsbury, MA/Shrewsburg (Lady Flames)).
 
Utica survived the Bulldogs' power play unit, keeping their deficit at one goal.
 
With time ticking away in the second period of play, the Pioneers found another opportunity. Mish connected with Calhoun along the left boards, with Calhoun swinging a pass in front of net. Modlin received the puck with only the Adrian goalkeeper in front of her and proceeded to send the puck home to level the game at two apiece.
 
The 2-2 score remained until the second period buzzer, sending the championship to an exciting third period.
 
Utica was extremely efficient on their opportunities up to that point, only having eight shots on goal but netting two, and producing a tie despite Adrian having a 33-8 edge in shots.
 
The Bulldogs once again cashed in to begin the third period, getting a breakaway and narrowly beating Hawthorne on the right to once again take the lead at 3-2.
 
The Pioneers also picked up the first penalty of the final period, going a player down with about 13 minutes left in the game. They looked to salt away the penalty time and return to full strength to have another shot at an equalizer. On the fourth penalty kill of the game, the Pioneers used a patient and methodical style of defending to escape another player-down disadvantage. Neither team had been able to score a power play goal at that point, a trend that continued with the Pioneers important defensive stand.
 
Utica kept up their aggressive checking tactics, searching for a breakthrough to level the game for a third time.
 
Despite the Pioneers best efforts, the 3-2 deficit remained until the final stages of the game, with the Pioneers pulling Hawthorne around the one minute mark. Utica called a timeout with 6.6 seconds left on the clock, but saw the ensuing faceoff get trapped on the boards, running the clock out and sending the Pioneers to only their second defeat of the season.