UTICA, NY - The No. 14 Utica University women's hockey team beat Manhattanville College 5-1 on Saturday night to earn a trip to the UCHC Championship Game for the second straight season.
Erica Sloan (Potsdam, NY/St. Lawrence Steel) led the team with three points tallying one goal and two assists.
Abby Lillis (West Seneca, NY/Buffalo Bisons) had two points with one goal and one assist with
Carly Stefanini (Framingham, MA/Brooks School) adding a pair of assists.
Kaci Ryder (Shrewsbury, MA/WC Swans),
Ava Suda (Cheektowaga, NY/Buffalo Bisons),
Cortney Staniszewski (Buffalo, NY/Niagara Jr. Purple Eagles),
Carolyn Whitney (Raleigh, NC/Millbrook School),
Autumn Mish (Long Lake, NY/University of New Hampshire (NCAA DI)), and
Tess Barrett (Tewksbury, MA/St. Mark's) each recorded one point.
Angela Hawthorne (Santa Clara, CA/Meijer) was fantastic in net making 14 saves and allowing just one goal to pick up the victory in goal. Utica out-shot Manhattanville 30 to 15 and did well at controlling the puck and kept it in the attacking or neutral zone for the majority of the game.
It was a quiet start to the contest before Utica struck first at the 15:54 mark when
Cortney Staniszewski (Buffalo, NY/Niagara Jr. Purple Eagles) tipped in an
Autumn Mish (Long Lake, NY/University of New Hampshire (NCAA DI)) shot to give the Pioneers a 1-0 edge.
Ava Suda (Cheektowaga, NY/Buffalo Bisons) and Mish recorded assists on the play. Utica did well defensively, recording a penalty kill while winning the shots battle 9 to 6. The Pioneers held a slim 1-0 lead after the first period of play.
It was a dominant period for the Pioneers who kept the pressure on living in the attacking zone with
Erica Sloan (Potsdam, NY/St. Lawrence Steel) slapping home a beautiful goal to increase the Utica lead to 2-0 at the 6:33 mark.
Carly Stefanini (Framingham, MA/Brooks School) and
Abby Lillis (West Seneca, NY/Buffalo Bisons) earned the assists after setting up the play beautifully. The Pioneers kept firing off shots as
Tess Barrett (Tewksbury, MA/St. Mark's) sniped one past the goaltender to push the lead to 3-0 at the 13:36 mark off with an apple going to
Kaci Ryder (Shrewsbury, MA/WC Swans). Utica was fantastic defensively allowing just two shots on goal and took a 3-0 lead into the final period of play.
The Valiants struck first in the third to make it a 3-1 contest at the 5:48 mark. However, Utica responded to recapture a three-goal advantage as
Abby Lillis (West Seneca, NY/Buffalo Bisons) found the back of the net at the 17:36 mark off assists from Sloan and Stefanini to capitalize on the power play.
Carolyn Whitney (Raleigh, NC/Millbrook School) scored at the 18:56 mark off a Sloan feed to secure the 5-1 UCHC Semifinal win for Utica.
Utica (22-3-2, 16-2-2 UCHC) will travel to face top-seeded Nazareth University on Saturday, March 2 at 3 p.m.
