BOX SCORE

The St. John Fisher College women's soccer team rallied from three goals down to defeat the host Utica College Pioneers 4-3 in a pivotal Empire 8 matchup.  Vicki Alfieri and Val Hanson both scored two goals to lead the Cardinals, who now improve to 5-4-3 overall and 2-0-2 in the Empire 8.  Utica falls to 6-5 on the year and 0-4 in the conference.

Alfieri scored the game-winning goal in the 84th minute to complete a thrilling comeback for Fisher.  The goal was very similar to her first of the day, as she netted a free kick from about 20 yards out.

After a scoreless first half, Utica jumped out to a 3-0 lead after Madison Melley first scored on a rebound goal in the 54th minute.    The Pioneers then scored two more goals in a 41-second span as Sarah Southwell connected twice on similar goals.  Southwell put away crosses to put the home team up 3-0, first with a one-timer from Samantha Matthews and then on a header goal from Samantha Spohler. 

But Alfieri answered to cap-off an exciting 1:14 span as she scored just 33 seconds after Southwell's second score, making the score 3-1.  Hanson then scored two-consecutive goals, to make it 3-3 and set-up Alfieri's winner.

Hanson's first goal came in the 74th minute as she collected a rebound off a Laura Burgstrom free kick that hit the crossbar.  In the 81st minute, Hanson scored again, one-timing a cross in from Chelsea Oberkrieser.

Alexandra Rohloff led the Cardinals with eight shots, while Oberkrieser and Hanson both had seven.  Sydney DeVitto finished with six saves for Fisher.

The Cardinals will return to action at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday when they host Empire 8 rival Ithaca College at Growney Stadium.