SPARKS, Md. – Playing their second game this season at Tierny Field on the grounds of the US Lacrosse headquarters, the Albright Lions women's lacrosse team suffered a 17-5 loss to Utica in non-conference action on Tuesday evening.
 
With the loss, the Lions drop to 3-3 overall on the season in their first meeting against the Pioneers since the 2016 season. Meanwhile, Utica of the Empire 8 Conference improves to 2-2 overall.
 
The Lions started fast as sophomore Kelly Baumann picked up where she left off last Thursday by scoring a goal on a free position shot to give the Lions a 1-0 lead just 2:35 into the game. Senior Sydney Nankervis came back just under five minutes later with the Lions second straight goal to take a 2-0 lead at the 22:49-mark of the first half. The Pioneers then responded with three-straight goals, all on free position shots, over a six-minute span to take a 3-2 lead at the 9:31-mark of the first half. Freshman Sarah Springer responded for the Lions with a goal to tie the game at three at the 5:31-mark off a pass from Nankervis. However, Utica came back again with two goals in the final three minutes to take a 5-3 lead at halftime.
 
In the second half, the Pioneers completely dominated the Lions by outscoring them 12-2 to pull away for the win. Utica would score 12 of the goals on just 18 shots going on net. The Pioneers scored the first two goals in the first 1:26 of the second half before adding two more goals within 20 seconds of each other to take a 9-3 lead at the 24:45-mark of the second half. After three more Utica goals, the Lions broke the nine goal run at the 13:37-mark of the second half with Baumann's second goal of the game. Baumann then completed her hat trick with 8:22 left in the game to cut the Pioneers lead down to 13-5. Utica then scored the final four goals of the game in the final six minutes to complete the win.
 
The Pioneers outshot the Lions 37-29 for the game after holding a 23-13 advantage in the second half. Utica held a 27-14 advantage in shots on goal and a slight 25-21 advantage in ground balls. Each team posted 12 draw control wins. Baumann scored three goals in the game, and has now scored 12 goals in two games. Nankervis tallied two points behind a goal and an assist, while freshman Tristin Konen posted an assist. Freshman goalkeeper Terae Mason made 10 saves in the loss, while Pioneer goalkeeper Hali Vandermeulen made nine saves to earn the win.
 
Albright will return to action on Friday, March 16^th when they will travel to face Farmingdale State in non-conference action at 3 p.m.