UTICA, NY—Utica's Keira Going made 27 saves and Morgan Reed netted a hat trick as the No. 4 Pioneers (11-10-5) defeated visiting No. 5 Buffalo State (10-13-3), 4-1, in the ECAC West quarterfinals tonight at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.
 
Utica opened the scoring with Reed's first of the game late in the opening period to give the Pioneers a 1-0 lead at the first intermission.  Brooke Krantz (Penticton, BC/Penticton) answered to even the score on the power play with her fifth of the season with assists from Jeyna Minnick (Rochester, NY/Greece-Arcadia) and Nikki Kirchberger (Buffalo/W. Seneca West) less than two minutes into the second period.
 
The Pioneers regained the lead midway through the middle stanza with Reed's second, and then put the game away in the third.  Buffalo State was building momentum early in the final period, but it was Utica that broke through again, as a long shot from Kelsey Dowdall snuck behind the Bengals' goalie and carried across the goal line to extend the lead to two.  After Utica killed off a Buffalo State 5-on-3 power play, it completed the scoring with Reed's third of the game with less than five minutes remaining.   
 
Utica finished with a narrow 30-28 advantage in shots, as Justine Silva (El Monte, CA/Arroyo) made 26 saves for Buffalo State.
 
Utica will advance to the semifinals to meet No. 1 Elmira next Saturday.  The Bengals finish the season with a seven-win improvement from last season and their 10 wins was just one shy of matching the school record.