OSWEGO, NY - The Utica University women's lacrosse team topped SUNY Oswego 19-12 on Saturday afternoon to pick up its first win of the new campaign.
 
Grace Stuhlman (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) had a fantastic day, tying her career-high with six goals and a whopping eight points. Samantha DeCondo (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) also had a strong game with three goals, one assist, and two ground balls. The trio of Maria Stuhlman (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro), Kerry Carr (New Hartford, NY/Manhattanville College), and Alyssa Drell (Mastic, NY/William Floyd) all tallied three points in the contest with a pair of goals and one assist. Alyssa Pisano (Hopewell Junction, NY/Arlington) and Courtney Fish (Albany, NY/Albany) each scored two goals with the goals being the first of Fish's collegiate career.
 
Makayla Purdy (Shirley, NY/William Floyd) did well in goal, recording her first collegiate win and making a career-high 11 saves which was nearly double her previous career-high.
 
Oswego got its offense rolling with a pair of quick goals to grab an early 2-0 lead with 12:39 remaining in the first quarter. Yet Utica quickly shifted the tide, scoring an incredible eight-straight goals to take a commanding 8-2 lead after the first quarter of play. Grace Stuhlman (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) and Alyssa Pisano (Hopewell Junction, NY/Arlington) played crucial roles in the scoring run, each scoring a pair of goals.
 
The scoring continued with Grace Stuhlman (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) securing her hat trick, ripping a shot past the Oswego goalie at the 12:12 mark to extend the Pioneers lead to 9-2. Utica continued to keep the ball in the attacking zone with Courtney Fish (Albany, NY/Albany) scoring her first collegiate goal at the 9:10 mark and giving Utica a 10-2 lead. The Lakers scored at the 7:30 mark to cut the deficit to 10-3 but DeCondo nabbed her second goal of the contest at the 6:31 mark to give Utica an 11-3 advantage.
 
The Pioneers kept rolling with Grace Stuhlman (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) scoring again at the 5:20 mark to make it a 12-3 game. Oswego had a nice run at the end of the half scoring three goals while allowing just one Pioneer goal (Courtney Fish (Albany, NY/Albany) at the 1:08 mark) to cut the Utica edge to 13-6 at the half.
 
The scoring slowed down in the third quarter with both defenses stepping it up and clogging the shooting lanes. DeCondo secured her hat trick at the 14:22 mark to make it a 14-6 game. Oswego
scored just three minutes later but Utica responded again with Drell scoring her second goal of the game to push the Pioneers lead to 15-7 at the 6:45 mark. 
 
Oswego scored one goal, yet Utica responded as the teams each exchanged goals with Utica holding an 18-9 edge after three quarters of play.
 
The Lakers opened up the scoring in the fourth quarter trimming the Utica lead to 18-10 with 12:36 remaining in the contest. Grace Stuhlman (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) continued to have a game scoring her sixth goal of the day to give the Pioneers a 19-10 lead with just less than 10 minutes remaining. Both defenses played well down the stretch with Utica hanging on for a 19-12 win.
 
Utica (1-2, 0-0 Empire 8) will travel and face Buffalo State College on Wednesday, March 6 at 5 p.m.