ONEONTA -- The St. Lawrence University field hockey team got its 2011 season underway in style on Saturday, as junior Courtney Cartier had a goal and an assist and senior Erika Swits scored with only 3:14 remaining in the game to give the Scarlet and Brown a 3-2 victory over Utica College.

St. Lawrence (1-0) had a 2-0 lead at one point in the second half, but two goals only 26 seconds apart by Utica knotted the score at 2-2 with 6:08 to play.

"We gave a good team effort today. Julia (Croyle), Emma (Berry) and Ali (Ferenczy) each had key stops on the defensive side of the field, while Nicole (Matos) made a few outstanding saves to secure us the victory," said St. Lawrence head coach Fran Grembowicz. "Despite giving up two quick goals, we recovered and were able to pressure throughout the rest of the second half."

Both St. Lawrence and Utica finished with 14 shots, while the Pioneers closed with a 9-7 edge in penalty corners.

The Saints took the lead at 19:16 of the first half when rookie Carly Stine scored her first collegiate goal on Utica's Monica Storms. The South Burlington, VT native tipped the ball off a feed from Cartier for the 1-0 cushion.

Cartier would give St. Lawrence a 2-0 lead at the 41:31 mark, as she was able to strike a loose ball past Storms for her first goal of the season (unassisted).

Though St. Lawrence appeared to be in control, Utica's Hannah Mackey scored back-to-back goals at 63:26 and 63:52 to tie the game at 2-2. Mackey's first goal came on a rebound to beat Matos, while her second came off a pass from Mallory Mariano.

Swits would put St. Lawrence back on top, though, at 66:46, as she used a reverse shot on a loose ball in front to give her team the 3-2 lead. The Saints would snag the momentum and run out the clock on their first win of 2011.

Matos closed with six saves for St. Lawrence, while Storms made seven stops for Utica. The Saints will look to sweep the weekend when they square off with Oneonta State tomorrow, Sunday, September 4 at 2:30pm.