Box Score

Utica, NY – The Elmira College Women's Lacrosse team used a strong first half to hold on late and upend host Utica, 6-5, Saturday afternoon at Gaetano Stadium. With the win the Soaring Eagles improve to 7-7 overall and 3-3 in Empire 8 play, while the loss drops the Pioneers to 8-5 and 2-4.

Elmira got off to a tremendous start scoring the contest's first four goals. At the 2:50 mark Jessica Blinkinsop '14 tallied her 10th goal of the year off a feed from Ashton Hogan '15. Over a five minute span Hogan added back-to-back scores of her own to make it 3-0. Two minutes later Marissa Mongillo '15 found the back of the net as the visiting Soaring Eagles led 4-0 after 10 minutes of play.

The Pioneers netted back-to-back scores in less than three minutes to get within 4-2, but Mongillo added another marker off a pass from Marki Michaels '13. The Soaring Eagles took a 5-2 advantage into intermission.

Utica played much stronger in the second half as they tallied three of the four goals in a defensive battle between two conference teams fighting to stay in the playoff hunt. Courtney Wheeler registered two of the three Pioneer second half goals. Hogan tallied her 20th of the year 3:22 into the second half, which proved to be the eventual game-winner.

Utica held advantages in almost every category including shots on goal (18-12), ground balls (16-14), draw controls (8-5), and free position shots (9-3). The Soaring Eagles committed 23 turnovers compared to just 14 for the hosts. However, Elmira had terrific goaltending as Mary Kate Gellerman '13 stopped 13 shots and only allowed five goals. Stephanie Belanger stopped six shots in the loss for Utica.

Mongillo finished with a game-high four draw controls, while Rebecca Matturro '14 forced three caused turnovers on the day. Hogan paced Elmira with three goals and one assist. Wheeler led the Pioneers with three scores.

The win today is crucial for Elmira's playoff hopes as they are now in a tie for fourth place in the conference standings with Stevens at 3-3. EC trails third place Nazareth (4-2 E8) who they will host at Campus Field on Saturday, April 27th beginning at 1:00 p.m. Stevens has one conference contest remaining next Saturday against Utica College. To see a breakdown of tie-breaking procedures for entrance into the Empire 8 playoffs see this LINK.

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