NEWPORT NEWS, VA. – The nationally 13th-ranked Cortland women's lacrosse team broke open a close game with seven consecutive goals and handed first-year head coach Kathy Taylor a victory in her first career collegiate game by defeating host Christopher Newport, 16-7, Tuesday afternoon.

Senior Danielle Torre (Massapequa) led the Red Dragons (1-0) with five goals to match her career high. Junior Jess Fritz (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker) contributed three goals and two assists, freshmen Lindsay Abbott (South Onondaga/Onondaga Central) and Olivia Lynch (North Rockland) recorded two goals each and freshman Erin Kollar (East Islip) added a goal and an assist. Senior Meghan Gallagher (Long Beach) dished out two assists, and senior Lindsay Bakker (Sloatsburg/Suffern) registered a game-high five ground balls. Freshman goalie Amanda Caloia (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker) made 10 saves in the game, including eight in the second half.

Kaitlin Quigley paced the Captains with two goals and two assists, while Meghan Harkey had a goal and an assist and four other players each chipped in with one goal. Gayle Robinson stopped 11 shots for Christopher Newport (2-2).

Quigley sandwiched her two goals around Torre's first score of the day for a brief 2-1 lead at the 23 minute, 12 second mark of the opening half. The Red Dragons then netted five straight goals from five different players for a 6-2 lead with 11:15 on the clock. The Captains answered with a score from Kelsie Dodd at 4:49 and a free-position goal from Luz Klemons at 1:50 to make it a 6-4 game. Torre closed the half with her third of the game off an assist from Fritz with just one tick left on the clock for a 7-4 lead.

Cortland put the game away with a six-goal binge to start the second half. Sophomore Megan Clare (Shirley/William Floyd) started the run with a free-position goal 24 seconds into the half. Torre and Fritz added two each and Abbott netted her second of the game and Cortland led 12-4 with 11:25 remaining. The Captains scored three of the next four goals but still trailed, 14-7, with a little more than five minutes left in the game. Lynch then finished off the scoring with a pair of goals in the last 30 seconds of the contest.

The Red Dragons outshot the Captains, 31-21, and held a 20-13 advantage in ground balls and a 16-9 edge in draw controls. Cortland next travels to Division I Davidson on Thursday.


GAME SUMMARY:
Team                                    1-2    Final
Cortland (1-0)                     7-9    16
CNU (2-2)                            4-3    7

Scoring (Goals-Assists):
Cortland: Danielle Torre 5-0, Jess Fritz 3-2, Lindsay Abbott 2-0, Olivia Lynch 2-0, Erin Kollar 1-1, Megan Clare 1-0, Mallory Palmieri 1-0, Brianna Shost 1-0, Meghan Gallagher 0-2
CNU: Kaitlin Quigley 2-2, Meghan Harkey 1-1, Katie Doherty 1-0, Kelsie Dodd 1-0, Luz Klemons 1-0, Shayna Sargent 1-0, Amy Suddarth 0-1

Goalkeepers:
Cortland: Amanda Caloia, 10 saves (7 GA in 60:00)
CNU: Gayle Robinson, 11 saves (16 GA in 60:00)

Shots: Cortland 31, Christopher Newport 21
Ground Balls: Cortland 20, Christopher Newport 13
Clears: Cortland 19-of-22, Christopher Newport 16-of-18
Draw Controls: Cortland 16, Christopher Newport 9
Caused Turnovers: Cortland 10, Christopher Newport 10
Turnovers: Christopher Newport 25, Cortland 21
Fouls: Christopher Newport 41, Cortland 36