FREDONIA, NY - The Utica University women's soccer team returned to the pitch on Friday fresh off of a 7-0 thrashing of SUNY Canton earlier in the week. To begin the weekend, the Pioneers met Fredonia State in the first game of the Blue Devils' annual Clarion Classic Tournament. Up against the hosts, Amber Piersma (Cassville, NY/Mount Markham) continued her meteoric start to the 2025 season, netting a brace with one goal coming in each half to power the Pioneers. Despite Piersma's star power, a plucky Fredonia squad pushed the Pioneers to the brink, resulting in a 2-2 stalemate.

The match itself was as even as the score indicated, with the Blue Devils narrowly edging out the Pioneers on total shots (15-9) and shots on goal (7-6). Fredonia also found the corner flag more often, getting six corner kicks to Utica's three. However, much like the match against Lycoming, the Pioneers were completely okay with finding their opportunities in the open field. 

Their first breakthrough came in the 29th minute of play, when one of Tuesday's goalscorers, Madison Wagner (Saukville, WI/Divine Savior Holy Angels), managed to serve a wonderful ball into the Fredonia box, drawing the Blue Devil keeper out of her net. The curving pass then found its way under the outstretched arms of the opposing keeper, finding Piersma perfectly at the back post as she hammered it home to equalize the game and bring her season scoring total to four. 

The game made it to halftime with the score even at 1-apiece. In the second half of play, the Pioneers came out as the aggressors, with the orange and blue earning a perfect opportunity in the opening minutes of the final-45. In the 50th minute of play, the Pioneers made a bid to break up the deadlock, finding space in the box off of a through pass. The resulting carnage saw the Blue Devil keeper exit the net once again, laying out to stop a potential drive, but dragging down an attacking Pioneer to produce a Utica penalty kick. 

On the ensuing penalty, Piersma was tasked with converting. The senior striker proceeded to slot the ball into the lower right corner of the net, beating the keeper to give the team a 2-1 lead and run her season total to an incredible five goals in just three games. 

Unfortunately for the visitors, the hosting Blue Devils battled back, securing a chance of their own from the penalty spot, which they converted in the 63rd minute of the match to bring things level at 2-2. Despite this, the Pioneer keeper, Avery Lawton (Fulton, NY/G. Ray Bodley), had a great outing in her first career start at the collegiate level. The freshman stopper from Fulton secured five saves, with her two blemishes coming off of a stunner in the first half and a penalty kick in the second. Even so, Lawton helped the Pioneers hold strong after the Blue Devils' penalty score. Following the dueling penalties, the two teams battled to a stalemate, with the fixture ending in a draw. 

The Pioneers will return to play tomorrow afternoon, battling Oswego State in their second and final game of the Clarion Classic. That matchup gets underway at 12:30 PM.

Highlights will be made available later tonight or tomorrow morning, check out our athletics YouTube for more information!