ONEONTA, NY – In the first varsity athletics contest on Hartwick College's campus in a shade under 400 days, the Hartwick women's lacrosse team fell to the Utica College Pioneers, 16-8. The win pushes the Pioneers to 4-4 overall and 2-1 in the Empire 8, while the Hawks are now 0-2 both overall and in conference.
After the game, the Hawks honored their six seniors for their contributions to the program in their time here:
In a bit of a mirror to Saturday's loss to Nazareth, the Hawks went up early before letting up a string of unanswered goals to end the first half. Just like against the Golden Flyers, Wilson got the game's first goal, this time on a Hedden assist at 24:58. Emily Schaub (Brewster, NY/Brewster) made the lead 2-0 on her first goal of the season just over a minute later at 23:37, also assisted by Hedden. From there, the Pioneers scored seven goals by the time the half let up, starting with Lexi Scaccia's 21st of the season just over 10 minutes in and ending with the third of three Lauren Wolff tallies in that span.
Wolff continued her impressive day to open up the second half scoring, getting her fourth unassisted goal of the day 3:46 in. Samantha DeCondo converted next at 24:53, the first of five second half tallies for her. Hedden got in the scoring column twice in the second half, both times on a free position shot and once a woman down, while Wilson and Schaub each got their second of the day in a 29-second span midway through the period. A pair of 'Wick freshman got on the board with the first point and goal of their collegiate careers, as Ellie Masterpole (Syracuse, NY/Westhill) scored at 18:12 of the second half off a Tracy assist, while Isabella Astorino (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley) tallied on a free position shot with 2:32 remaining.
Hedden was the offensive leader for the hosts, as she had two goals on four shots (all on target) and two assists, as well as two draw controls and a ground ball. Wilson had an impressive all-around day, tallying twice on a team-high five shots (all on goal), picking up five ground balls and controlling a team-high five draws. Schaub had two goals on three shots, two caused turnovers, and a ground ball, while Tracy registered two assists, one ground ball, and a caused turnover. Masterpole had three draw controls and a ground ball in addition to her goal. Paszko ended up making 13 saves on 29 shots while scooping a team-leading and career-high six ground balls and causing two turnovers.
DeCondo, Wolff, and Scaccia led the way offensively for Utica. DeCondo had five goals on nine shots for a team-high seven points, as well as two ground balls and two caused turnovers. Wolff's six goals were the most out of all players, and they came on a team-high eight shots on goal. She led the Pioneers with six ground balls, to boot. Scaccia had two goals and an assist on a team-leading 11 shots, as well as six draw controls. Claire Frier played the game in net and had 11 saves on 19 shots, as well as five ground balls.
Utica had a 41-25 shot advantage, including a 29-19 lead in shots on goal. The turnover battle slimly went to the visitors, who gave the ball up 22 times to 'Wick's 24, and they were also 21-of-26 on clear attempts compared to the host's 17-of-26. The Pioneers scooped 35 ground balls to the Hawks' 20, and Hartwick controlled 13 draws to Utica's 12.
'Wick plays next this Saturday, April 10, at 2 p.m. They travel to Keuka College for an Empire 8 matchup for the first time, as the Wolves are a new member of the conference this season.
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