CORTLAND, N.Y. – The nationally second-ranked Cortland women's lacrosse team out scored Ithaca, 6-2, in the second half to pull away from a tight game at intermission to earn a 12-7 victory in its home opener Wednesday afternoon at the SUNY Cortland Stadium Complex. The Red Dragons improved to 5-0 with the win, while the Bombers fell to 1-4.
Sophomore
Erica Geremia (Camillus/West Genesee) led Cortland in scoring for the fifth consecutive game, compiling seven points on a game-high five goals and two assists. Senior
Taylor Reh (Miller Place) scored three times, freshman
Kristen Ohberg (Brewster) had two goals and one assist, senior
Liz Beville (Jamesville/Jamesville-DeWitt) contributed one goal and one assist, sophomore
Ashley Gentile (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker) tallied a goal and junior
Marilyn Farrell (Fayetteville/Fayetteville-Manlius) chipped in with an assist for the Red Dragons, who won their 46th straight home game.
Sophomore goalie
Liz Ingalls (Centerport/St. Anthony's) turned aside 11 shots for Cortland, including eight in the second half. Freshman
Hilary O'Neil (Fayetteville/Fayetteville-Manlius) recorded three ground balls, senior
Heather Casey (Denville, NJ/Morris Knolls) won three draw controls and senior
Jessica Lavelle (Fayetteville/Fayetteville-Manlius) and junior
Chelsea Martin (Ogdensburg/Ogdensburg Free Academy) each chipped in with two caused turnovers.
Sophomore Riley Marion (Dartmough, MA) paced Ithaca with three goals. Juniors Delaney Gilson (Montclair, NJ), Niki Standera (Penfield) and Molly Fischer (Aquinnah, MA/Martha's Vineyard) and sophomore Ally Runyon (Fairport) netted one goal apiece, while senior Becky Guzzo (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker) contributed two assists.
Freshman goalie Emily Ross (Stony Brook/Ward Melville) made 11 saves. Senior Jenna Marchinetta (Glastonbury, CT) collected three ground balls and caused three turnovers and Fischer and Runyon totaled five and four draw controls, respectively.
After Geremia and Runyon traded the first four goals of the game, the Red Dragons strung together three goals, one from Geremia and two by Reh, to take a 5-2 lead just before the midway point of the first half. The teams then went more than nine minutes without scoring a goal until Standera netted a free-position goal at seven minutes, 24 seconds of the opening half. Fischer made it 5-4 at 4:23, and Gilson pulled Ithaca even 39 seconds later. Beville gave Cortland a 6-5 lead at the break when she scored off Geremia's assist nine seconds before the half.
The Red Dragons slowly began to pull away in the second half, scoring the first four goals to build a 10-5 lead with 19:10 remaining. Gentile and Geremia tallied unassisted goals at 26:58 and 23:07. Geremia assisted on Reh's third of the game at 21:34 and Ohberg completed the run at 19:10. Marion made it 10-6 with 18:29 left, but Geremia and Ohberg scored back-to-back unassisted goals with under five minutes on the clock to seal the win. Runyon finished the scoring at 1:47 with her team-high 15th goal of the season for the 12-7 final.
Cortland 12, Ithaca 7
Team 1-2 Final
Ithaca 5-2 7
Cortland 6-6 12
Scoring (Goals-Assists):
Ithaca: Riley Marion 3-0, Niki Standera 1-0, Ally Runyon 1-0, Molly Fischer 1-0, Delaney Gilson 1-0, Becky Guzzo 0-2
Cortland:
Erica Geremia 5-2,
Taylor Reh 3-0,
Kristen Ohberg 2-1,
Liz Beville 1-1,
Ashley Gentile 1-0,
Marilyn Farrell 0-1
Goalkeepers:
Ithaca: Emily Ross, 11 saves (12 GA in 60:00)
Cortland:
Liz Ingalls, 11 saves (7 GA in 60:00)
Shots: Cortland 34, Ithaca 23
Ground Balls: Cortland 19, Ithaca 13
Clears: Cortland 13-of-14, Ithaca 13-of-20
Draw Controls: Ithaca 12, Cortland 9
Caused Turnovers: Ithaca 10, Cortland 6
Turnovers: Ithaca 17, Cortland 12
Records after game: Cortland (Red Dragons) 5-0 (ranked 2nd nationally in Div. III); Ithaca (Bombers) 1-4
