ELMIRA, NY - Utica University's women's lacrosse team hit the road to take on the Elmira College Soaring Eagles in a non-conference matchup, putting forth a dominant performance in a 20-1 victory on Elmira's Campus Field. The win pushes the Pioneers to 4-2 on the year and sends them into their upcoming Empire 8 opener riding back-to-back victories.
Junior midfielder
Maria Stuhlman (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) powered the offense with a game-high seven points, striking for five goals and adding two assists while also filling the stat sheet with six ground balls, a team-high three caused turnovers, and three draw controls.
Nora Gross (Cortland, NY/Cortland HS) was close behind with four goals and one assist, including two fourth-quarter tallies to put an exclamation point on the runaway result. Utica's balanced attack continued with hat tricks from sophomore attacker
Lucia Daubel (Walden, NY/Valley Central) and senior attacker
Jessica Marciano (Churchville, NY/Churchville Chili), who each finished with three goals and one assist. Senior captain
Alexis Alteri (Clinton, NY/Clinton) turned in a well-rounded showing of her own, recording two goals, two assists, a team-leading seven ground balls, and two caused turnovers to help Utica dominate possession. Junior attackers
Bella Kolb (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) and
Olivia Muscatelli (Franklin Square, NY/Valley Stream North) rounded out the scoring with two and one goals, respectively, while senior attacker
Alanna Fragapane (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) chipped in two assists. First-year midfielder
Sydney Rochefort (Massena, NY/Massena Central) led the squad with seven draw controls, half of the team's 15 total.
Utica controlled every statistical category, outshooting Elmira 31-4 and owning a 23-1 edge in shots on goal. The Pioneers finished a perfect 15-for-15 on clears, collected 36 ground balls to the Soaring Eagles' 22, and held a 15-7 advantage on the draw. Junior goalkeeper
Makayla Purdy (Shirley, NY/William Floyd) earned the win with a quiet but efficient 60-minute outing, facing just one shot on goal and turning it away for her lone save of the contest. The lone Soaring Eagle goal was scored on a shot off a free position.
The Pioneers set the tone immediately with a 10-0 first quarter, scoring all 10 goals of the opening frame in a span of just over 10 minutes. Stuhlman opened the scoring at 12:16, and Utica never looked back, as Marciano and Stuhlman alternated early strikes to quickly build a 4-0 cushion. Stuhlman completed a first-quarter hat trick at 8:39, followed by Alteri's first goal at 7:57 to make it 6-0. Gross joined the party with a woman-up goal at 6:07 off a feed from Marciano, and Kolb and Marciano tacked on two more in the final five minutes to cap the explosive 10-goal period. Stuhlman then added a shorthanded goal in the final two minutes off an assist from Fragapane to close the quarter on a double-digit lead.
Utica continued to build its margin in the second quarter, using a 4-0 stretch to take a 14-0 advantage into halftime. Alteri started the frame with an unassisted marker at 11:43 before assisting on back-to-back goals from Kolb and Daubel. Gross added her second of the afternoon with 2:36 remaining in the half off a feed from Stuhlman, completing a 14-goal, first-half outburst for the orange and blue.
Elmira broke through early in the third quarter when Sandra Angell converted a woman-up opportunity at 3:09 for the Soaring Eagles' lone goal of the game. That tally came after Daubel opened the half with back-to-back unassisted goals, pushing the Utica lead to 16-0 before Angell's strike made it 16-1. The Pioneers' defense remained airtight throughout, limiting Elmira to just four total shots while forcing 24 turnovers.
Stuhlman notched her fifth goal of the day off a pass from Daubel with 12:09 left, and Muscatelli followed at 8:21 on a feed from Kolb for her first of the afternoon. Gross then struck twice in the final two minutes, scoring off Stuhlman at 1:58 and again with 44 seconds left on a setup by Fragapane to complete her four-goal effort. Utica closed the contest with a 4-0 fourth quarter to finish the 20-1 scoreline.
With all but one non-conference game now in the rear view mirror, Utica will turn its attention to Empire 8 competition. The Pioneers are set to return home to Gaetano Stadium on Saturday, March 28, to face Nazareth University in their conference opener. Opening draw is slated for 1:00 p.m. as Utica looks to carry its current momentum into league play.
