UTICA, NY - The sixth-seeded women's lacrosse team readies for the first round of the Empire 8 Tournament against three-seeded SUNY Brockport on Tuesday, April 29 at 3 p.m.
 
Follow Along: Live video can be found here and live stats here.

Tournament Central: Full tournament information can be found here

Last Time Out: Women's lacrosse came up short in its final regular season game against SUNY Geneseo, 19-6 (April 26). Alyssa Specchio (Chenango Forks, NY/Chenango Forks) led Utica with four points off two goals and two assists. She now has a point in all but one game this season. 
 
Bella Kolb (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford)  scored a pair of goals and has 18 points in the last seven games (at least two in each of those seven games). Alexis Alteri (Clinton, NY/Clinton) and Grace Stuhlman (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) scored once while Jordan Kowalski (Chicopee, MA/Westfield) notched one helper. Makayla Purdy (Shirley, NY/William Floyd)  started in goal and made a career-high 15 saves. She made six in the first half and nine in the second. Geneseo scored the first goal with 10:16 remaining in the first, going up 1-0. Kolb and Grace scored back-to-back tallies to give Utica a 2-1 advantage with 8:46 left in the quarter. The Knights responded two minutes later, tying the game at two, followed by Kolb and Specchio scoring once each to extend the Pioneer lead to 4-2. Geneseo scored twice in the final two minutes, tying the game at four going into the second quarter. The Knights notched seven goals in the second frame while Utica scored once, and Geneseo entered halftime with an 11-5 advantage. 

Ticket Information: 
 
$6.00 - Adults
$4.00 - Students and seniors with ID
Free - Children under 12
 
Tournament Participants:  
 
No. 1 – St. John Fisher University (9-0 E8, 16-0 Overall)
No. 2 – SUNY Geneseo (8-1 E8, 11-6 Overall)
No. 3 – SUNY Brockport (7-2 E8, 8-8 Overall)
No. 4 – Nazareth University (6-3 E8, 10-7 Overall)
No. 5 – Hartwick College (5-4 E8, 8-7 Overall)
No. 6 – Utica University (4-5 E8, 7-8 Overall)
 
Tournament Schedule:
 
Tuesday, April 29 
No. 6 Utica University at No. 3 SUNY Brockport – 4 p.m. 
No. 5 Hartwick College at No. 4 Nazareth University – 4 p.m.. 
 
Thursday, May 1 
Winner of Nazareth/Hartwick at No. 1 St. John Fisher University – 4 p.m.
Winner of SUNY Brockport/Utica at No. 2 SUNY Geneseo – 4:30 p.m. 
 
Saturday, May 3 – Championship (at Highest Remaining Seed)
Winner of Semifinal #1 vs. Winner of Semifinal #2 – TBA
 
Playoff History: The Pioneers have made their eighth tournament appearance and seventh in a row since 2018. Utica made program history in 2024, making it to their first-ever conference championship against St. John Fisher. In the semifinal against Nazareth, the team won 18-12. 

Team Outlook: Grace leads Utica with 64 points off 45 goals and 19 assists and ranks sixth in league play, averaging 4.27 points per game. She totaled at least one point and one draw control in every game played this season. Maria is second on Utica with 47 points (40 goals and seven assists) and is two points away from reaching 100 career points. She also led Utica in the regular season with 45 groundballs and 16 caused turnovers. Alyssa Specchio (Chenango Forks, NY/Chenango Forks) and Jordan Kowalski (Chicopee, MA/Westfield) have combined for 29 points in the team's last four games. Purdy made 26 combined saves in the previous two games against Hartwick and Geneseo. Utica finished second in the league with 231 draw control wins, fourth in goals against (175) and sixth in goals scored (191).

Scouting Brockport: The Golden Eagles enter Tuesday with an 8-8 overall record, 7-2 in E8 play. The team is on a three-game winning streak since April 19 against Russell Sage (21-3), Nazareth (21-12) and Keuka (15-1). Alayna Foos leads Brockport with 46 goals and 71 shots on goal. She has 10 goals and five assists in the last three games, while her season-high nine points came against Utica on April 12. Karaline McCarthy has a balanced 56 points off 30 goals and 26 helpers. McCarthy also leads Brockport with 84 draw wins and has 20 points in the last three games. Journey Naab and Paige Throw lead the Golden Eagles with 17 caused turnovers each, while Naab has a team-leading 29 groundballs. Goalkeeper Arianna Reed has started all 16 games and sports an 11.10 goals against average and a .487 save percentage. 
Brockport beat Utica in the regular season 20-9.