UTICA, NY – The Utica College women’s hockey team topped visiting Neumann University 5-1 Friday night in the 4th annual Shawn Grady Memorial Fund Gold Ribbon game at the Utica Memorial Auditorium. The Pioneers dawned special edition gold ribbon jerseys which were auctioned off over the course of the last month to raise funds and awareness for childhood cancer. The Pioneers raised a record $4,007 throughout the event and the funds will be donated to 15 year old John Gallardo and his family from Rome, NY. John underwent a successful bone marrow transplant in the Spring of 2015 and is currently in remission from his aplastic anaemia diagnosis for which he currently requires treatment at Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse.
The Pioneers have now won three straight ECAC West Conference games and improved to 12-5-1 overall and 8-2-1 in conference. Neumann’s record fell to 4-13-1 overall and 2-10-1 in the ECAC West.
Utica senior Morgan Reed (Fort Myers, FL/Cushing Academy) finished the night with one goal and one assist, while linemate Gabrielle Schnepp (Northville, MI/Belle Tire) also added two assists. 11 different Pioneers tallied at least one point on the afternoon.
Reed got things going with her team-best 15th goal of the season at the 11:49 marker of the first period when she slipped a goal past Neumann goalie Justina Mayr to put the Pioneers on top 1-0. Jane Pagano (Erie, PA/Tabor Academy) and Schnepp were each credited with an assist on the game’s opening goal.
With 1:25 left in the first period, freshman forward Elizabeth Dohner (Highlands Ranch, CO/Colorado Selects) wristed home her second collegiate goal to put the Pioneers up 2-0.
UC padded its lead early in the second period when junior Victoria Pelton (Sterling Heights, MI/Belle Tire) netted her first goal of the season just 2:01 into the stanza. Emily Coope (Phoenix, AZ/Colorado Tigers) and Veronique Lortie (Chambly, Quebec/Berkshire School) assisted on the goal to give the Pioneers the 3-0 lead.
Freshman Lauren Patterson (Burlington, Ontario/Oakville) added her seventh goal of the season with 1:59 left in the second period to put the Pioneers on top 4-0. Reed and Schnepp assisted on the Pioneers fourth goal of the game.
4:40 into the final period the Pioneers took a convincing 5-0 lead when sophomore Carlie Smith (Grimsby, Ontario/St. Catharine’s Chaos) registered a short-handed goal. Meghan Power (Windsor, Ontario/Southwest Wildcats) added her second assist of the night against her former team, while Samantha Husak (Jackson, MI/Grass Lake) also got in on the action and tallied her fourth assist of the season.
Neumann’s Jessica Langdon spoiled the shutout when she tallied her first goal of the year, unassisted, with 11:53 to go in the contest.
Utica goalie Keira Goin (Dobbs Ferry, NY/Hotchkiss School) stopped 27 shots on the night to earn her 11th win of the season. Justina Mayr stopped 44 shots in the loss as the Knights were outshot 49-28 on the evening.
The two teams turn right back around on Saturday as they square off at the Aud at 2 p.m. to complete the regular season ECAC West series.
