UTICA, NY - The Empire 8 has announced its Athletes of the Week, with Utica women's lacrosse standout Maria Stuhlman (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) being named among honorees. Sharing the honors with SUNY Brockport's Hailey Lewkovich, Stuhlman takes home the award for a second consecutive week, and marks the fourth time in 2026 that a Utica women's lacrosse member earns a weekly award from the conference. The squad will now look to carry its momentum into a road matchup with nationally ranked St. John Fisher University.

Stuhlman and the Pioneers took home two wins last week, defeating Elmira College 20-1 on the road on Wednesday, before opening Empire 8 conference play with a 13-7 home win over Nazareth University. At the top of the stat sheet was the junior midfielder Stuhlman, who turned in the two best performances of her career. She capped last week with a six-point game, the fifth of her career, before heating up with games of seven and eight points in this week's games, both career firsts. In the victory over the Soaring Eagles, she netted five goals and assisted another two before achieving both four goals and four assists against the Golden Flyers.

Utica women's lacrosse will now eye a two-game Empire 8 conference slate over the coming week, beginning with a road challenge at nationally-ranked St. John Fisher on Wednesday, April 1st. Opening draw is set for 4:00 pm at Growney Stadium in Rochester, NY. The Pioneers return to home turf next Saturday, April 4th, in a 1:00 pm-scheduled matchup with Keuka College.