Score: Utica College 15 – Elmira College 6
Records: Utica (5-3, 2-0 E8), Elmira (0-6, 0-2 E8)
Location: Ernie Davis Academy – Elmira, N.Y.
 
ELMIRA, N.Y. -- Elmira College women's lacrosse came up short in Empire 8 Conference action to visiting Utica College, 15-6, on a cold and rainy afternoon in Elmira, New York. Hayley Baker '19, Rachel Grampp '18 and Sarah Hughson '18 paced the Purple and Gold with two goals apiece.
 
A slow start by Elmira in the first half, paired with a flurry of Pioneer goals in the closing minutes, handed the Soaring Eagles a 9-2 halftime deficit. Utica's Rebecca Plunkett found the back of the cage twice in the opening 1:10 of the contest, which was followed by another two tallies by the visitors, giving the Pioneers a 4-0 lead with 25:24 to play in the first half.
 
Baker put an end to Utica's scoring run with a goal of her own at the 20:25 mark. Grampp set up the scoring play with a nice pass from behind the cage to Baker, who beat her defender on a hard cut into the lane, before going over the top of the UC goaltender for the score.
 
Utica's Noelle Capriglione answered less than two minutes later, but Baker responded with a free-position goal at 11:37 to bring the score to 5-2. However, the Pioneers went on to score four unanswered goals in the final 8:48 of the opening half to take a 9-2 lead into the halftime break. Three of the final four goals came in the closing 1:48, including the final tally which was scored with just four seconds left on the clock.
 
In the second half, the two teams traded goals in the first three minutes with Plunkett scoring for Utica and Grampp tallying for the Soaring Eagles. However, the Pioneers went on to score three unanswered goals over a 9:24 stretch to give the visitors a 13-3 lead.
 
The 10-goal deficit stood until Hughson scored for Elmira at 8:39, but back-to-back strikes from Colleen Dowling and Plunkett pushed the Utica lead to 15-4 with 5:20 left in regulation. Elmira closed out the contest strong, scoring twice in the final 2:37 on goals from Grampp and Hughson, but that was as close as EC would get as Utica claimed a 15-6 victory.
 
Turning Point
The opening five minutes and final two minutes of the first half proved to be the difference in today's contest. Utica scored four unanswered goals in the first 4:36 of the first half and another three tallies in the closing 1:48 to take a commanding seven-goal lead into the halftime break.
 
Inside the Box Score

• Utica held a small advantage in shots, 34-to-28, and a 28-to-20 lead in shots on goal.
• EC won the ground ball battle, 23-22.
• UC finished with 13 draw controls, while EC collected 10.
• Elmira committed 25 turnovers and Utica ended the day with 22.
• The Pioneers went 17-for-23 on clear attempts (73.9%), including an 8-for-9 mark in the second half.
• Elmira was 15-for-25 on clears (60.0%).
• Utica was 3-for-8 on free-position shots, while Elmira went 2-for-8.
• Baker (2g, 1a) and Grampp (2g, 1a) led Elmira with three points apiece.
• Grampp also collected three ground balls, two draws and caused one turnover.
• Baker finished with a team-high three draw controls.
• Hughson logged two goals, one draw, and finished with team highs in ground balls (6) and caused turnovers (4).
• Kelsey Quail '17, Kelcey Crawford '18 and Kate Gibson '20 recorded three ground balls apiece.
• Lindsay Wargo '17 made 13 saves and grabbed two ground balls in 60 minutes of action.

 
News and Notes

• Elmira's 28 shots were a season high.
• Wargo registered a season-high 13 saves and the third double-digit save performance of the year.
• The 13 saves increased Wargo's career total to 307, making her just the third player in program history to eclipse the 300-save plateau.
• Grampp's two goals were a season high.
• Hughson's two tallies were also a season high.

 
Up Next
Elmira will look to bounce back from today's setback tomorrow afternoon, when the Soaring Eagles host New England College in non-conference action. Tomorrow's contest is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at the Ernie Davis Academy turf field.