CORTLAND, N.Y. – Elena Hingston and Cara Stafford scored goals and Dayna Mercer made 13 saves as fourth-seeded Geneseo upset top-seeded and nationally 15th-ranked Cortland, 2-1, in the SUNYAC field hockey tournament semifinals.
 
Geneseo (9-11), which avenged a 6-0 regular-season loss to the Red Dragons, will travel to third-seeded New Paltz for the league championship game Saturday. New Paltz won 3-2 at second seed Oneonta in Wednesday's other semifinal game. Cortland had a 10-game winning streak snapped and is now 14-3. The Red Dragons will await a possible NCAA Div. III tournament at-large berth – those bids will be announced at the end of the weekend.
 
Geneseo got on the board five minutes, 14 seconds into the game when Hingston took a pass from Kailey Suhr on a penalty corner and blasted in a shot from just to the left of the top of the circle. Cortland had a chance to tie the game with 11:02 left in the half when the Red Dragons were awarded a penalty stroke, but Mercer made a save on Abigail Wentlent's (Greene) stroke attempt to preserve the Knights' lead.
 
Cortland increased the offensive pressure in the second half as the Red Dragons recorded the period's first 10 shots and 11 penalty corners over a 25-minute span. Mercer, however, made eight of her saves during that stretch.

Geneseo extended its lead to 2-0 with 8:27 left when Stafford knocked in a rebound after a shot by Suhr was saved by Cortland goalie Mairead Hourihan (Yorktown Heights/Lakeland). Cortland responsed with 3:38 remaining when Gabby Stein (Endwell/Maine-Endwell) took a pass from Shelby Underwood (Marathon) and took a shot that just trickled over the goal line before being cleared away by a Geneseo defender. The Red Dragons had a final chance to tie the game with 34 seconds left, but Mercer turned away a shot by Underwood and the Knights were able to run out the clock.
 
In addition to Mercer's 13 saves, Geneseo defenders Maria Premo and Liz Doherty registered defensive saves. Hourihan finished with three saves and Bri Musselman (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom) notched a defensive save for Cortland. Geneseo won despite being outshot, 20-8, and allowing 18 penalty corners compared to the Knights' six.
 
UPDATE 11/8/14:  Following the SUNYAC tournament, Erica Wharton (Putnam Valley) and Emily Woods (Williamsville/Williamsville North) were named to the all-tournament team.


Geneseo 2, Cortland 1
 
Scoring Summary (Goals-Assists):
Geneseo: Elena Hingston 1-0, Cara Stafford 1-0, Kailey Suhr 0-1
Cortland: Gabby Stein 1-0, Shelby Underwood 0-1

Halftime: Geneseo 1, Cortland 0
Shots: Cortland 20, Geneseo 8
Penalty Corners: Cortland 18, Geneseo 6
Saves: Dayna Mercer (Geneseo) 13 (1 GA in 70:00); Mairead Hourihan (Cortland) 3 (2 GA in 70:00)
 
Records after game: Geneseo (Knights) 9-11; Cortland (Red Dragons) 14-3 (ranked 15th nationally in Div. III)