CORTLAND, N.Y. –  The nationally top-ranked Cortland women's lacrosse team improved to 7-0 on the season with a 16-9 victory versus fourth-ranked The College of New Jersey in non-conference action Saturday afternoon at the Stadium Complex. The Lions, who entered the contest allowing just three goals a game, dropped their first game of the season and are now 7-1.

Senior Ashley Gentile (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker) led the Cortland offense with eight points on six goals and two assists. Senior Tara Monaghan (Stony Point/North Rockland) netted five goals. Senior Nicole Bello (Camillus/West Genesee) scored twice, sophomore Hannah Elmer (Syracuse/West Genesee) tallied one goal and four assists, junior Kristen Ohberg (Brewster) contributed one goal and one assist, freshman Carly Stone (Syracuse/Jamesville-DeWitt) scored once and junior Makenzie Annable (Navarino/Onondaga) chipped in with an assist.

Junior goalie Jaclyn Beshlian (Wantagh) registered a career-high 13 saves for the Red Dragons. Gentile won nine draw controls and collected four ground balls, Monaghan secured six draws and caused two turnovers and senior Colleen Wright (Huntington Station/Huntington) scooped up three ground balls.

Senior Cortney Natalicchio (New Egypt, NJ) paced the Lions with four goals and four draws. Junior Mia Blackman (Arlington, VA/Field School), sophomore Elizabeth Morrison (Stonington, CT) and freshman Erin Harvey (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) each scored a goal and collected three ground balls. Graduate student Erin Waller (Washington Township, NJ) and sophomore Amanda Muller (Hillsborough, NJ) netted one goal apiece.

Freshman goalie Miranda Chrone (Moorestown, NJ) made nine saves and recorded three ground balls. Senior Megan Devlin (Marmora, NJ/Ocean City) caused a game-high five turnovers and added three draws.

After Natalicchio gave the Lions a 1-0 lead with a free-position goal at 26:50, Cortland ran off six straight goals for a 6-1 lead at the 9:35 mark. Gentile scored three times, Monaghan notched a pair of goals and Elmer collected two assists during the run. Morrison and Natalicchio tallied back-to-back goals for The College of New Jersey to pull to within 6-3, but Bello scored at 2:12 and Gentile netted her fourth goal of the game 19 seconds before the half and Cortland held an 8-3 lead.

The Red Dragons scored three of the first four goals of the second half and led 11-4 with 25:48 remaining. The Lions cut the lead to 11-6 on goals from Natalicchio and Blackman. Elmer and Monaghan answered for Cortland with goals just 41 seconds apart to regain a seven-goal advantage at 13-6. Waller scored from the free position at 8:03, and Natalicchio notched her fourth goal of the game at 5:28 to cut Cortland's lead to 13-8. The Red Dragons sealed the win with three goals in a row, one each from Bello, Gentile and Monaghan, in the closing minutes before Harvey's goal with 28 seconds remaining completed the scoring as Cortland earned the 16-9 victory, its fourth win of the season over a nationally ranked opponent. 
 
Cortland 16, TCNJ 9

GAME SUMMARY:

Team                    1-2     Final
TCNJ                    3-6        9
Cortland               8-8      16

Scoring (Goals-Assists):
TCNJ: Cortney Natalicchio 4-0, Erin Harvey 1-0, Elizabeth Morrison 1-0, Mia Blackman 1-0, Erin Waller 1-0, Amanda Muller 1-0
Cortland: Ashley Gentile 6-2, Tara Monaghan 5-0, Nicole Bello 2-0, Hannah Elmer 1-4, Kristen Ohberg 1-1, Carly Stone 1-0, Makenzie Annable 0-1 

Goalkeepers:
TCNJ: Miranda Chrone, 9 saves (16 GA in 60:00)
Cortland: Jaclyn Beshlian, 13 saves (9 GA in 60:00)

Shots: Cortland 35, TCNJ 26
Ground Balls: TCNJ 18, Cortland 16
Clears: Cortland 12-of-14, TCNJ 11-of-17
Draw Controls: Cortland 17, TCNJ 10
Caused Turnovers: TCNJ 12, Cortland 7
Turnovers: Cortland 18, TCNJ 10

Records after game: Cortland (Red Dragons) 7-0 (ranked 1st nationally in Div. III); The College of New Jersey (Lions) 7-1 (ranked 4th nationally in Div. III)