Owls Battle Dragons, Fall 13-9 in NCAA Tournament

POST GAME INTERVIEW

PHOTOS (Courtesy Tufts)

MEDFORD, MASS. – The Cortland women's lacrosse team went on a five-goal run spanning the second and third quarters to erase a one-goal deficit and went on to defeat Westfield St., 13-9, Saturday afternoon in the first round of the NCAA Div. III playoffs hosted by Tufts University. With the win, the Red Dragons won their 13th consecutive game, improving to 15-4 on the season, and face the host Jumbos in the second round, Sunday at 1 p.m.

The Owls' season comes to a close with a 12-8 overall record after making their sixth NCAA tournament appearance and second straight.

Megan Bailey (Quincy, Mass.) paced the Westfield St. offense with four goals. Nataie DeMaio (Westwood, Mass.) scored twice, Lindsey Bohenko (Lowell, Mass.), Mykenzie Black (Hopedale, Mass.) and Mercedes Rossi (S. Burlington, Vt.) each netted a goal and Kiely Hafensteiner(Niskayuna, NY) collected three assists.

Owls' Goalie Kara Banagan (Niskayuna, NY) stopped 14 shots and contributed three ground balls and two caused turnovers. Victoria Paine (Dudley, Mass.) scooped three ground balls, Bailey secured six draws and caused two turnovers, Bohenko won three draws and Hafensteiner added two ground balls and two caused turnovers.

The first half was extremely competitive.

Cortland, which received votes for the top 25 in this week's IWLCA poll, opened up an early 2-0 lead on goals from Cashman and Iapoce, but the Owls answered with three straight goals from Bohenko, Black and Bailey to grab a 3-2 lead. The Red Dragons closed the first quarter with scores from Beck and Cashman to hold a 4-3 lead after the opening 15 minutes.

After DeMaio netted the first two goals of the second quarter to give Westfield St. back the lead for the last time, Cashman, Melillo and Hoeffner each tallied goals to put Cortland ahead 7-5 at the half. Hoeffner's score came with just one second remaining on the clock.

Cortland out-shot the Owls 18-11 in the opening half.

The Red Dragons' lead grew to 9-5 as Iapoce and Janis completed the five-goal run with the first two goals of the third quarter less than a minute apart. Rossi scored the final goal of the third quarter, and Bailey's goal 30 seconds into the fourth quarter pulled the Owls back to within 9-7. The Red Dragons responded with three straight goals to take control of the game, building a 12-7 lead with 5:50 remaining in the game. Iapoce scored once, and Cashman netted back-to-back goals, the second while Cortland was a player down due to a yellow card. Bailey recorded her third and fourth goals of the game to cut the Owls' deficit to 12-9, but Laukitis completed the scoring with 54 seconds on the clock for the 13-9 final.

Toni Cashman (East Moriches/Westhampton Beach) led the Cortland offense with five goals, while Nicole Iapoce (Clintondale/Highland) netted three goals. Rachel Janis (Laurel/Mattituck) tallied a goal and an assist, and Ashley Melillo (Massapequa), Amy Hoeffner (Bay Shore), Gwen Laukitis (Cortlandt Manor/Walter Panas) and Mackenzie Beck (Port Jefferson Station/Comsewogue) each scored a goal.

Goalie Margaret Morgan (New Fairfield, CT) made five saves and added five ground balls and two caused turnovers for the Red Dragons. Hoeffner became the program's career leader in draw controls, securing six during the game to increase her total to 335, surpassing the previous mark of 331 held by Emma Hayes-Hurley. Hoeffner also recorded four ground balls and three caused turnovers.

Julie Kadletz (Shoreham/Shoreham-Wading River) finished with five ground balls and two caused turnovers, Amanda Squillini (Stony Point/North Rockland) registered four ground balls and two caused turnovers and Cashman chipped in with four draws.

Cortland out-shot the Owls 36-23 overall in the game. Draws were even at 12 apiece, but Cortland forced Westfield into an uncharacteristically high 23 turnovers to the Red Dragons 17.

Cortland will face #4-ranked Tufts in the second round for the second straight season.  The Red Dragons won a national title in the 2015 season.