UTICA, N.Y. (March 24, 2019) – Five different players found the back of the net, but the Stevens Institute of Technology women's lacrosse team was unable to overcome a first-half deficit and fell to Utica College 14-7 Sunday in an Empire 8 Conference matchup at Gaetano Stadium. The game was originally scheduled for Saturday afternoon, but was rescheduled because of inclement weather in upstate New York.
Junior
Kyra Bednarski scored three times and added an assist to collect her fifth hat trick of the season, for the Ducks, who dropped their second straight to fall to 2-5 overall and 0-1 in the conference. The Syracuse, New York native has scored multiple goals in 23 straight contests dating back to last season.
Jessie Biegel scored five times for the Pioneers, who have won five straight to improve to 7-1 overall and 1-0 in league play.
"I am proud of how hard we played today," said head coach
Karen Shaddock. "This was the first game that we've really been back at full strength. Utica is a good team and they came to play today."
Junior
Emily Shanklin joined freshmen
Natalie Fitzpatrick and
Maeve McGovern in finding the back of the net, while freshman
Gale Bennett dished out her first collegiate assist to round out Stevens' scoring.
Sophomores
Peyton Taylor and
Olivia Demetres combined for five saves, with Taylor suffering the loss. Freshman
Lauren Cunniff played the final eight minutes in her collegiate debut. Hali Vandermeulen made 15 saves for Utica to earn the victory.
Stevens jumped out fast, scoring on two of its first six shots to build a 2-0 lead. McGovern registered Biegel netted her first of the game to put the home team on the board, before Bednarski beat Vandermeulen to again put Stevens in front.
A yellow card to sophomore
Tori Bruce provided a spark for the home team as Addison Green netted a power-play goal to draw the Pioneers with one and Biegel scored twice in a 51-second span to give Utica its first lead of the game.
The Pioneers would go on to score the next six goals of the game, bridging the intermission, to open a seven-goal lead. Fitzpatrick beat Vandermeulen to slow down Utica's offense, but Hailey DuMont scored goals on consecutive possessions to extend the lead. The Ducks scored three of the final four goals to provide the game's final margin.
Utica outshot Stevens 31-27, although the Ducks held the edge in shots on net 22-19. Individually, Bednarski fired a game-high 11 shots, with a game-high eight registering on net, while Biegel and Palmer each took eight attempts to pace the Pioneers.
Defensively, senior
Regan Littell was a disruptive force, causing a career-high five turnovers as the Ducks force 21 Utica miscues on the afternoon. Katlyn Scarpinella led the Pioneers with two caused turnovers as Utica forced 16 Duck turnovers.
Stevens won the ground ball battle, picking up 21 against 19 by the home team. Littell led the Ducks with four, while freshman
Meredith Conlin picked up three. Vandermeulen picked up a game-high five to lead the Pioneers.
Littell filled the stat sheet, topping the Ducks with four draw controls, while Lexi Scaccia earned a game-high eight to help Utica earn a 13-10 advantage in the statistic.
Stevens went 12-for-20 on clears, while Utica was successful on 14 of its 20 attempts. The Ducks did not convert any of their five free-position shots, while Utica was successful on six of its eight FPS attempts.
Up Next: Women's Lacrosse welcomes No. 11 Wesleyan University to the DeBaun Athletic Complex for the Ducks' 2019 home opener on Mar. 27. Stevens was slated to play Rowan on Mar. 2, but the game was rescheduled for March 9 and moved to Glassboro, New Jersey because of snow. The teams have split their only two meetings.
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