UTICA, NY – The No. 12 Utica University women’s hockey team beat Lebanon Valley College 4-2 on Friday night to pick up another UCHC victory and remain in first place in the conference.
Kaci Ryder (Shrewsbury, MA/WC Swans), Hailey Modlin (Phoenix, AZ/Boston Shamrocks), Erica Sloan (Potsdam, NY/St. Lawrence Steel), and Molly Pedone (Trinity, FL/Robert Morris) all found the back of the net in the team’s victory. Cortney Stanizewski, Kelsey Elliott (Attleboro, MA/East Coast Wizards), Erica Sheaffer (New Hartford, NY/Wilkes University), Molly Pedone (Trinity, FL/Robert Morris), and Carly Stefanini (Framingham, MA/Brooks School) all recorded one assist. Pedone led the team with two points and created plenty of scoring opportunities for the team with her strong play.
The Pioneers came out firing as the team registered 15 shots compared to just two for the Flying Dutchmen. Kaci Ryder (Shrewsbury, MA/WC Swans) led the team in shots with three and rifled a goal at the 13:37 mark to put the Pioneers ahead 1-0. The goal was assisted by Kelsey Elliott (Attleboro, MA/East Coast Wizards) and Molly Pedone (Trinity, FL/Robert Morris). Utica kept the pressure on and found itself in the attacking zone once again and Hailey Modlin (Phoenix, AZ/Boston Shamrocks) snuck in a goal to give Utica a 2-0 edge. The goal came at the 14:52 mark and was assisted by Erica Sheaffer (New Hartford, NY/Wilkes University). The Pioneers played aggressively and took a 2-0 edge into the first intermission.
Utica continued to attack as the team registered 11 shots in the second period. Both defenses tightened up as the puck was in the neutral zone for longer portions of the period. Yet, the Pioneers did have a few exceptional scoring opportunities as Erica Sloan (Potsdam, NY/St. Lawrence Steel) took advantage of one and put one in the back of the net to give Utica a 3-0 edge. Sloan’s goal came at the 5:05 mark and was assisted by Carly Stefanini (Framingham, MA/Brooks School). The Pioneers had a handful of scoring opportunities towards the end of the period, yet Lebanon Valley’s defense kept the score 3-0 heading into the final period of play.
Lebanon Valley made things interesting as Victoria Scruto found the back of the net at the 8:00 mark to cut the Pioneer lead to 3-1. Yet, 59 seconds later Molly Pedone (Trinity, FL/Robert Morris) rifled one into the back of the net to extend the Utica advantage to 4-1. Moments later the Flying Dutchmen responded as Ioanna Christou snuck one past Maddie Esposito (Ashburn, VA/Boston Shamrocks) to make it a 4-2 game with under 5 minutes to play. The Pioneer defense tightened up and held on for a 4-2 UCHC victory.
No. 12 Utica (17-1-2, 14-0-1 UCHC) and Lebanon Valley will meet again at 2 p.m. on Saturday for Utica’s regular season home finale. Prior to puck drop, the Pioneers will hold a brief ceremony to honor their seniors.
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