ROCHESTER, NY - The No. 11 Utica University women's hockey team fell short in the UCHC Championship game against top-seeded and nationally ranked No. 13 Nazareth University, 2-1, on Saturday afternoon. 
 
Hailey Modlin (Phoenix, AZ/Boston Shamrocks) scored the team's lone goal of the afternoon while Carolyn Whitney (Raleigh, NC/Millbrook School) provided the assist. Angela Hawthorne (Santa Clara, CA/Meijer) made 22 saves which included a plethora of clutch stops. 
 
Both Golden Flyer goals came via power play (2-for-3) with one score coming in the first and the other coming in the third. The Pioneers went 0-for-1 on their lone power play. Overall, Utica held a 33-24 advantage in shots on goal whereas Nazarath claimed the faceoff advantage, 23-16. 
 
While both teams had a handful of solid scoring chances in the early portions of the first, goaltenders Angela Hawthorne (Santa Clara, CA/Meijer) and McKinley Hoff were stout between the pipes to keep the score even at zero. In fact, Hawthorne rejected a Nazareth breakaway a little over five minutes into the game. 
 
However, it would be the Golden Flyers who would find the back of the net first. Late into a power play that resulted from an Ava Suda (Cheektowaga, NY/Buffalo Bisons) tripping call at 9:12, Julia Holmes rocketed one past Hawthone for a 1-0 lead. The score came on Nazareth's fourth shot of the advantage. 
 
The first came to a close with the Golden Flyers up 1-0 while it was the Pioneers who held an 11-10 shot advantage. 
 
Come the second, Utica kept applying pressure until the Golden Flyers finally cracked. With just under 7:30 to go in the frame, Hailey Modlin (Phoenix, AZ/Boston Shamrocks) evened the score with her team leading 18th goal of the season with Carolyn Whitney (Raleigh, NC/Millbrook School) on the assist. Both teams would wind out the second with some prime scoring chances but once again, Hawthorne and Hoff kept every shot they faced out of the net to go into the final period even at 1-1. 
 
Following an action-packed first four minutes of the third period, Callie McLaughlin (Centerport, NY/New Hampton School) was sent to the penalty box for hooking. The first five Nazareth shots were all either wide or blocked until Ella Cedrone snuck one past Hawthorne at the 4:39 mark to go up 2-1. 
 
From there, Utica got 17 shots off throughout the remainder of the game. While Hawthorne stopped each of Nazareth's ensuing four shots on goal to keep the team within one, the Pioneers themselves could not even the score. With an extra attacker in the closing minutes, Whitney, Madison Novotny (Wesley Chapel, FL/Northwood School) and Autumn Mish (Long Lake, NY/University of New Hampshire (NCAA DI)) each had shots blocked as the Golden Flyers fended off the Pioneers for the UCHC title. 
 
No. 11 Utica (22-4-2, 16-2-2 UCHC) will look towards the NCAA selection show to earn an at-large bid into the 2023-24 NCAA Division III Women's Ice Hockey Tournament. The show is set to air on Sunday, March 3 at 8:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.