UTICA, N.Y. - The Neumann University women's ice hockey team fell on Friday in United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) action, dropping a 6-2 result to host Utica College.
 
Taylor Cullen and Claudia Trionfo were the goal scorers for the Knights on the afternoon, while Katelyn Brown had a pair of assists. Helen Cooney took the loss in goal, stopping 29 saves on the day.
 
Utica started strongly in the first frame, scoring a goal just 6:20 into the period to take an early 1-0 lead. The Pioneers then doubled their lead late in the frame with a goal at the 15:03 mark to take a 2-0 advantage. The Knights struggled to find their way into the game with just three shots in the opening 20 minutes, but their best play came late in the period as they cut the deficit in half with under three minutes left to go. Cullen found the back of the net at 17:11 to make it 2-1 Utica heading to intermission.
 
The Pioneers blew the game wide open in the second stanza. Cooney kept Neumann in the game by making several big saves in the first half of the period to keep the score-line at 2-1, but the senior net-minder could only keep things close for so long. Using 15 second period shots, Utica tallied three goals in the final ten minutes of the frame to take a commanding 5-1 lead into the third period.
 
Neumann fought hard to work it's way back into the game in the final 20 minutes with 11 third period shots. Trionfo got the Knights back to within three at 5-2 on the power-play at the 9:34 mark, but the visitors could not sustain the momentum. The Pioneers sealed the win just two minutes later, capping off the contest with a goal at 11:25 to clinch the 6-2 conference win.
 
Neumann (9-8-0, 6-2-0 UCHC) will look to rebound tomorrow when it heads to Nazareth College for another UCHC matchup. Puck-drop is scheduled for 1:00 PM.