GARDEN CITY, N.Y. – Hannah Church and Kelsey Markiewicz each scored four goals as the nationally seventh-ranked Gettysburg women's lacrosse team defeated fourth-ranked Cortland, 13-11, in the semifinals of the NCAA Div. III Women's Lacrosse Tournament Saturday night at Adelphi University. The Red Dragons had their season end at 21-2, while the Bullets improved to 18-4 and advanced to face the Bowdoin Polar Bears, who defeated The College of New Jersey,  11-9, in the first semifinal, for the national title.

Freshman Ashley Cook (Commack) led Cortland with four goals, and junior Lindsay Abbott (South Onondaga/Onondaga Central) scored a team-best five points on three goals and two assists and completed her record-breaking season with 138 points on 62 goals and 76 assists.

Sophomore Maria Di Fato (Camillus/West Genesee) scored twice for Cortland, junior Erin Kollar (East Islip) and freshman Taylor Reh (Miller Place) each netted a goal and sophomore Mary Hartzheim (Manlius/Fayetteville-Manlius) and freshman Alexis Egeberg (Black River/Carthage) contributed one assist apiece. Sophomore goalie Ally Levy (Reisterstown, MD/Seton Keough) made three saves in 30 minutes, 45 seconds before giving way to sophomore Shauna Hutchinson (Islip Terrace/East Islip), who stopped seven shots in 29:15.

Lindsey Robinson added three goals and two assists for the Bullets, Loren Pruitt scored twice and Marnie Commins registered an assist. Maddie Coleman made 10 saves.

Cortland opened up a 3-0 lead less than four minutes into the game. Abbott scored from the free position at 29:52, Cook netted her first of the night at 28:38 and Reh made it a 3-0 game at 26:05. Gettysburg then strung together five goals and never relinquished the lead. Church and Robinson each scored twice and Pruitt finished the run to make it 5-3 at the 13:55 mark. Cook then sandwiched a pair of goals around Pruitt's second score before Church and Robinson scored at 3:52 and 2:37, respectively, to push the Bullets' lead to 8-5. Kollar, however, made it an 8-6 game at the half when she scored just 25 seconds after Robinson.

Gettysburg pushed its lead to 11-7 just before the midway point of the second half as Markiewicz scored three times, two from the free position, and Di Fato tallied a free-position goal for Cortland. Cortland made one final run by scoring three of the next four goals. Abbott scored her 61st of the season, Markiewicz netted her fourth of the game for Gettysburg and Abbott and Di Fato followed with unassisted goals just 16 seconds apart to make it a 12-10 with 10:42 remaining. Church made it 13-10 with a free-position goal, her third of the game, at 7:53. Cook tallied her fourth of the game at 7:25 to complete the scoring.

Cortland gained possession on several occasions in the closing minutes but either turned the ball over to the Bullets or were denied by Coleman. Gettysburg eventually earned possession of the ball with under four minutes remaining and were able to run out the clock and seal the win.

Abbott and Cook were named to the Final Four All-Tournament Team.

(Story edited May 23 to include All-Tournament Team selections.)

Gettysburg 13, Cortland 11

GAME SUMMARY:

Team                              1-2    Final
Gettysburg (18-4)          8-5        13
Cortland (21-2)              6-5        11

Scoring (Goals-Assists):
Gettysburg: Hannah Church 4-0, Kelsey Markiewicz 4-0, Lindsey Robinson 3-2, Loren Pruitt 2-0, Marnie Commins 0-1
Cortland: Ashley Cook 4-0, Lindsay Abbott 3-2, Maria Di Fato 2-0, Erin Kollar 1-0, Taylor Reh 1-0, Mary Hartzheim 0-1, Alexis Egeberg 0-1

Goalkeepers:
Gettysburg: Maddie Coleman, 10 saves (11 GA in 60:00)
Cortland: Ally Levy, 3 saves (9 GA in 30:45), Shauna Hutchinson, 7 saves (4 GA in 29:15)

Shots: Cortland 28, Gettysburg 27
Ground Balls: Gettysburg 19, Cortland 13
Clears: Gettysburg 15-of-21, Cortland 10-of-14
Draw Controls: Cortland 15, Gettysburg 11
Caused Turnovers: Cortland 6, Gettysburg 3
Turnovers: Cortland 16, Gettysburg 13
Fouls: Cortland 34, Gettysburg 16