ROCHESTER, NY - Utica University's women's lacrosse team traveled to Growney Stadium in Rochester to take on the #24-ranked St. John Fisher University Cardinals. The visiting Pioneers competed quite strongly early, but a scoring run that began in the late second quarter led to 13-straight Cardinal goals, propelling the hosts to a 16-4 victory. The loss moves Utica to 5-3 overall in the 2026 season, and 1-1 within the Empire 8. The orange and blue will look to rebound on the team's senior day on this coming Saturday, April 4th. The opening draw against Keuka College is set for 1:00 pm.

The Pioneers netted four goals in the contest, each unassisted, and each by a separate player. Maria Stuhlman (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) opened the scoring in the game, followed by Alexis Alteri (Clinton, NY/Clinton), both on free positions. Meghan Brennan (Southbury, CT/Pomperaug) added a goal in the second quarter, with Bella Kolb (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) netting the final goal of the game. Junior Vanessa Leon (Riverhead, NY/Riverhead) accounted for three of the team's six total caused turnovers, with each of Stuhlman, Kolb, and Olivia Grant (Rochester, NY/Greece Olympia) tallying one. Defender Ella Jentsch (Rosendale, NY/Our Lady of Lourdes) was the only Pioneer to reach three ground balls, followed by Stuhlman and goalie Makayla Purdy (Shirley, NY/William Floyd) with two. At the center circle, Stuhlman led the team with four draw controls, followed by Alteri, Brennan, and Jessica Marciano (Churchville, NY/Churchville Chili) with two each. Back between the pipes, Purdy made eight saves.

Seven separate Cardinals found the back of the net, led by Ellie Leisen, who pocketed five goals. Kaley Griffin was the only other St. John Fisher player with a hat trick, additionally assisting on one other. Chelsea Lopata both scored and assisted two goals, while each of Chloe Scanlan and Dharma Makarowsky scored twice and assisted once. Megan McGrath was the final multipoint Cardinal, scoring and assisting on one goal. Chelsea Mesick scored once, and Charlotte Walter assisted once to round out the host's point scoring. Griffin, Mesick, and Addison Peters each tallied three caused turnovers, while each of McGrath, Lowney, and Andrews pulled in four ground balls. Lowney pulled in half of the team's 12 draw controls, followed by Leah Hilton with three. In net, Maggie Cross played the first 46:34, earning the win, before being relieved by Kaylee Gadol. Neither goalie made a save, with three goals credited to Cross and one to Gadol.

The Pioneers struck first in the contest, with Stuhlman finding the back of the net 5:03 into play. A minute and a half later, Griffin responded for St. John Fisher on a feed from Lopata. With 7:05 left, Alteri gave Utica another lead before Makarowsky again tied it up on a man-up score just over a minute later. The 2-2 score held over the remaining six minutes of the first frame.

After 5:53 into the second quarter, Griffin netted a pass from Scanlan to give the hosts their first lead of the day. 1:25 later, Brennan scored for Utica to establish a 3-3 tie, netting the final Utica goal of the half. With 6:44 left, Leisen scored for St. John Fisher to build a 4-3 lead. This score held for over five minutes before the hosts started heating up late in the frame. Lopata and Scanlan added goals with 1:03 and 0:14 left, respectively, with Walter earning an assist on Scanlan's goal, to enter halftime with a 6-3 St. John Fisher lead.

The second half continued to run heavily in favor of the hosts, beginning with a third quarter in which the Cardinals scored seven goals while holding Utica to zero shots. The fourth quarter began on a similar trend, starting with goals by St. John Fisher with 13:43, 10:46, and 7:59 remaining, before play slowed down for over the next five minutes. With 2:38 left in the game, Kolb netted a man-up goal to end the home scoring run and net the final goal of the game. Her score finished a 16-4 final in favor of the Cardinals, ending Utica's recent win streak at three games.

The Pioneers return to action on Saturday, April 4th, when the Keuka College Wolves come to Gaetano Stadium to take on Utica on the team's senior day. Opening draw is set for 1:00 pm.