BUFFALO, NY - Utica University's women's lacrosse team continued an early-season road span, playing the Buffalo State Bengals second of three straight away contests for the Pioneers. Utica fended off continued attempts by Buffalo State, but never allowed the home team to take a lead. Several Pioneers turned in offensive production to help pull a 10-9 victory over Buffalo State. Utica will now look ahead to a March 17th matchup with Oswego State.

The 10 Utica goals were split between five separate players. Alyssa Specchio (Chenango Forks, NY/Chenango Forks) led the team with three goals, scoring her second hat trick of the season. The trio of Jessica Marciano (Churchville, NY/Churchville Chili), Maria Stuhlman (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro), and Bella Kolb (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) each scored twice, followed by first-year Anna Nitti (Brewster, NY/Brewster), scoring one goal for a second-straight game. Marciano was the only goal-scorer with an assist, joining Alexis Alteri (Clinton, NY/Clinton) and goalie Makayla Purdy (Shirley, NY/William Floyd), who each had one. Stuhlman had a large lead on ground balls, pulling in seven. Specchio (three), Nitti (two), and Marciano (two) were the only other Pioneers with multiple. Stuhlman additionally led the team, taking in six of the team's 10 draw controls. Ella Jentsch (Rosendale, NY/Our Lady of Lourdes) caused two turnovers, the only Utica player to do so. Junior goalie Makayla Purdy (Shirley, NY/William Floyd) made 11 saves, in addition to recording the first assist of her career.

Three players accounted for Buffalo State's goal scoring, led by Vanessa Willick with five. Kira Grzechowiak and Emilee Josker each scored twice to make up the nine goals. Kaylee Cadez led the team with two assists, followed by Willick and Bri Struck with one each. Grzechowiak additionally led the team with seven ground balls and tied with Willick for the team lead with four draw controls. Brielle Lum played 50:39 in net for the Bengals, saving nine of 18 shots, followed by Moira Penot, who saved one of two shots in 9:21 played.

In her first game of the 2026 season, Stuhlman didn't take long to make an impact, scoring the game-opening goal 54 seconds into the game. During a man-up situation, the Pioneer offense used efficient passing to find Stuhlman open near the crease, netting a close-range goal for her first of the year. Her goal was assisted by Marciano. Following some physical play by a Utica defender a minute later, the Bengals were awarded a free position. Willick took the ball for Buffalo State, running in and scoring a goal in the upper part of the net to even the score at 1-1. The score held for much of the remaining quarter, until a quick strike on the counterattack by Utica gave the Pioneers a 2-1 lead with 3:25 left in the frame. Following a saved Buffalo State shot, the Pioneers quickly cleared, with Alteri getting the ball inside her own half. She carried the ball straight towards the Bengals' net, passing to Marciano inside to score the final goal of the quarter.

The Pioneers opened the scoring in the second quarter as well, 1:07 into play, off a free position shot by Specchio. She was cutting near the net when a hard slash awarded her the opportunity to net the man-up free position goal. Willick scored her second of the game for Buffalo State 2:23 later into the frame. From behind the net, she backed her way in front of the net, taking a shot from on the crease. The 3-2 score held for just under the next four minutes, until Utica added another goal at the 6:32 mark. Following a save on a free position shot, Purdy held the ball, freely patrolling near her crease. After some time, she launched the pass into the offensive half, finding Kolb behind all the Bengal defenders to get her first career assist on Kolb's third of the season. Just under a minute later, Grzechowiak responded for Buffalo State, receiving a pass from Willick as she cut from behind the net. Specchio netted the final goal of the half with 2:45 remaining to give Utica a 5-3 lead after 30:00. The Pioneers launched a swift counterattack, using several Utica passes to quickly advance the ball into the stick of Specchio, who cut to the net to score her second of the game, and ninth of the season. 

Utica struck first in the second half, with Nitti scoring just 1:24 into play. She was knocked to the turf, being awarded a free position, which she used to bounce a shot past the goalie. The three-goal lead Utica then established (6-3) was the largest of the day. It took the home team 5:13 more to respond. With a settled offense, the Bengal attackers weaved past one another, passing to Willick, who made a hard run towards the left side of the net, powering through several closing Pioneers to net a hat-trick goal. She scored again another five minutes later, in a very similar play, pushing through several Utica defenders on the left side of the defense. Under a minute later, with 2:26 remaining, Buffalo State tied the game at 6-6. After inbounding an out-of-bounds shot behind the net, Josker made a strong cut to the net, being found by Struck to even the score. The Pioneers looked to close out any building momentum, with Kolb scoring 29 seconds later. Holding the ball behind the net, she found an opening to split the defenders, then crossed in front of the net to score and make it 7-6. Utica controlled the ensuing draw, quickly gaining possession in the offensive zone. The ball ended up in the stick of Marciano, who dodged past her defender to score near the front of the net for Utica's second goal in 28 seconds. Josker scored again for the home team with 47 seconds remaining, driving towards the net after a bounce pass by Cadez.

Grzechowiak scored first in the final frame for Buffalo State to establish an 8-8 tie with 12:31 remaining. She received a short pass from Cadez, cutting across the net for a mid-range shot. Halfway through a two-minute man advantage, the Pioneers were awarded a free position. Specchio took the ball for Utica, rocketing a shot into the upper-right corner to give the visitors a 9-8 lead. With 8:38 remaining, Utica scored its final goal of the game on an odd play to build a 10-8 lead. At the 9:21 mark, Buffalo State's goalie, Lum, was assessed a yellow card, giving her two minutes in the penalty box and bringing Moira Penot into the game. During that penalty time, Penot committed a foul on a Utica attacker on the crease, giving the Pioneers a free position in which the goalie was required to stand outside of the crease. Stuhlman took the free position shot for Utica, netting the goalie-less score. The Bengals looked to crawl back to even, scoring once with 1:10 remaining. The home team was awarded a free position, which Willick converted into her fifth goal of the game. This was the final score in the contest, allowing Utica to win 10-9.

The Pioneers will take a week off with the university's spring break, returning to action to close the road stretch in a matchup with the Oswego State Lakers. Opening draw for the contest is set for 12:00 pm on Saturday, March 14th, at Oswego's Laker Turf Stadium. Utica returns to Gaetano Stadium just a few days later in a March 17th bout with the University of Rochester.