UTICA, NY - Utica University's women's lacrosse team returned to Gaetano Stadium for the first time in a month, playing host to SUNY Morrisville. After a contested first quarter, a 5-0 run by Utica in the second paved the way for a 13-8 Pioneer victory. The win moves Utica to 3-2 on the year, with just one more game, a road contest at Elmira College, before beginning Empire 8 conference play.

Six separate Pioneers recorded at least one point in the outing, with the 13 Utica goals split between five players. Junior Maria Stuhlman (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) led the orange and blue with six points, netting four goals and assisting another two. Seniors Jessica Marciano (Churchville, NY/Churchville Chili) and Alexis Alteri (Clinton, NY/Clinton) joined Stuhlman in the hat trick club, scoring four and three goals, respectively. Attackers Bella Kolb (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) and Alyssa Specchio (Chenango Forks, NY/Chenango Forks) each accounted for one of the two remaining goals. Stuhlman and Kolb both turned in two assists, followed by Specchio and Nora Gross (Cortland, NY/Cortland HS) with one apiece. Alteri had a fantastic day on both offense and defense, adding five caused turnovers and pulling in six ground balls, both at least double the next-best Pioneer. Meghan Brennan (Southbury, CT/Pomperaug) and Stuhlman were critical on draws, controlling five draws each out of the team's 15 total. Junior netminder Makayla Purdy (Shirley, NY/William Floyd) played in the crease for Utica, saving eight shots.

The Mustangs' offensive production was split between several players, as only two players achieved a second goal: Anyssia Ingersoll and Samantha Budney. The same two players were the only Mustangs to record assists, with Ingersoll helping on two, and Budney on one. The remaining Morrisville goal scoring was split evenly between Deli Vega-Haley, Ella Oakes, Grace Loadwick, and Mary Trowbridge. Ingersoll additionally caused four turnovers, joined by Haylie Buysse (two) as the only other Mustang with multiple. Goaltender Aniyah Smith was an active member of the visiting defense, leading the squad with six ground balls in addition to her 11 saves.

The first 15 minutes of action saw both side trade goals, beginning with Stuhlman for Utica 2:19 into play. It took just 1:20 more of play for Vega-Haley to strike back for Morrisville. Specchio brought the lead back to 2-1 Utica with 6:47 remaining, scoring her team-leading 13th of the season. Budney scored next to continue trading blows 1:42 later into play, on a fourth consecutive unassisted goal. With 3:57 remaining in the frame, Marciano netted the final Pioneer goal of the quarter, continuing the back-and-forth trend, but lending Kolb the first assist of the game. Ingersoll tacked on the final goal of the first 15 minutes on a free position shot following a Utica green card.

For nearly the first five minutes of play in the second quarter, both teams continued to battle, with the only shot on goal going in favor of the Mustangs, but a Stuhlman goal with 10:14 remaining marked the first goal of the frame. Utica eventually broke the back-and-forth trend with a man-up goal by Marciano with 4:54 remaining, courtesy of an assist by Gross. Immediately after, Stuhlman pulled in the ensuing draw control, taking it to the goal and scoring another just 11 seconds later. Play slowed back down until the final minute, beginning with Kolb's second goal of the game with 59 seconds remaining, off an assist by Specchio. 36 seconds of play later, Stuhlman assisted on a man-up Alteri goal to close out the first half with the home squad leading 8-3.

Coming out of the break, the Mustangs were hungry to fight back into the game. They opened the door with a Trowbridge goal one minute into play before Loadwick added another 10 seconds later. With 12:12 remaining, Oakes pocketed another for Morrisville, moving the score to 8-6 Pioneers. Ingersoll added her assists on Trowbridge's and Oakes' goals, with Budney notching hers on Loadwick's score. Neither squad could break the score until Stuhlman netted her fourth of the game on a man-up opportunity with 3:11 left. 1:36 later in the quarter, Stuhlman assisted on a Marciano goal, taking advantage of another man-up opportunity. With just nine second remaining, Ingersoll tacked on an unassisted goal to establish a 10-7 Utica lead entering the final 15 minutes.

Alteri struck first in the fourth quarter, tallying a free position goal with 9:31 left in the game. Morrisville added a free position goal of their own by Budney with exactly seven minutes left, her 10th of the year. Alteri scored once more in the quarter to complete her hat trick, this time during live play with 4:10 left. The final goal of the game went the way of the orange and blue, with Maricano adding one with 1:27 left off an assist by Kolb.

Utica will now look ahead to next Wednesday, March 21st, when the squad travels to take on Elmira College. Opening draw is set for 4:00 pm at Elmira's Campus Field. The Pioneer next return home on Saturday, March 28th, when they play host to the Nazareth University Golden Flyers in the team's first Empire 8 conference matchup of 2026.