UTICA, NY - The Utica University women's lacrosse team fell to SUNY New Paltz 10-6 on Saturday afternoon.
 
Utica and New Paltz combined for 27 shots on goal, 16 for New Paltz and 11 for Utica. Bella Kolb (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) led the Pioneers with three goals and four shots on goal. Grace Stuhlman (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro), Alyssa Drell (Mastic, NY/William Floyd) and Samantha DeCondo (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) had one goal each. Maria Stuhlman (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) had the team's only two assists and collected a team-high four ground balls and one draw control. Kerry Carr (New Hartford, NY/Manhattanville College), Daniela Muscari (Millbrook, NY/Millbrook) and Samantha DeCondo (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) each had one shot on goal.
 
Makayla Purdy (Shirley, NY/William Floyd) started in goal for Utica, registering six saves. Five came in the second half where she made some fantastic saves.
 
New Paltz struck first with three minutes to play in the first quarter. Morgan Atwater scored an unassisted goal, giving the Hawks a 1-0 lead. Four minutes later Utica evened the game at one as Drell scored a woman-up goal. Two minutes later, New Paltz's Kaitlyn Shaw would score two unanswered to extend their lead to 3-1 heading into the second quarter.
 
55 seconds into the second, Shaw notched her third goal, giving New Paltz a 4-1 advantage. Six minutes later, Grace Stuhlman (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) cut the lead in half, 4-2 and 40 seconds later, Lexi Atwater put New Paltz up 5-2. The Hawks would score two more goals to end the second up 7-2.
 
Utica started the third quarter on a high note with DeCondo scoring 1:12 into the third as Maria Stuhlman (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) made a beautiful pass to DeCondo, cutting the lead to 7-3. Both teams would go back and forth throughout the remainder of the third and fourth quarters.
 
Bella Kolb (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) started her Utica career off to a hot start after collecting her first career hat trick as a Pioneer. Kolb's goals came in the second half, one in the third and two in the fourth. New Paltz would go onto win 10-6.
 
Utica (0-1, 0-0 Empire 8) travels to No. 23 SUNY Cortland on Wednesday, February 28 at 4 p.m.