CORTLAND, N.Y. – In a back-and-forth game in which neither team held more than a two-goal lead, the nationally 22nd-ranked Cortland women's lacrosse team escaped with an 18-17 victory versus New Paltz in SUNYAC East action Wednesday afternoon. The Red Dragons improved to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in the conference. The game was the Hawks' first of the season.

Senior Hannah Lorenzen (Stony Brook/Ward Melville) and junior Hannah Keech (Penn Yan/Penn Yan Academy) each notched four goals for Cortland with Lorenzen adding two assists and Keech contributing one. Sophomore Kiki Meager (Syracuse/West Genesee) tallied five points on three goals and two assists, and freshman Toni Cashman (East Moriches/Westhampton Beach) also netted three goals.

Junior Amy Hoeffner (Bay Shore) scored two goals and recorded an assist, senior Hannah Tiso (Somers) recorded one goal and one assist, junior Shelby Meduski (East Quogue/Westhampton Beach) picked up a goal and senior Cecilia Procopio (Syracuse/West Genesee) regsitered three assists.

Senior goalie Paige Potter (Cortland) made seven saves. Meager secured eight draw controls, Keech finished with four ground balls and three draws and Meduski won four draws.

Senior Tara Bovich (West Islip) recorded a game-high seven points on five goals and two assists to lead New Paltz. Senior Amy Hofer (Newfield) tallied four goals and one assist. Junior Maddy Carullo (River Valley, NJ/Pascack Valley) added two goals and two assists, and senior Keydy Espinoza (Brentwood) and junior Katie Zito (Glenmont/Bethlehem) each scored twice.

Freshman goalie Hailey Aber (Denville, NJ/Morris Knolls) turned aside 13 shots. Hofer won seven draws and caused two turnovers, and Brosnan secured five draws. Sophomore Maddie Gillis (Levittown/Division Avenue) collected four ground balls, while senior Megan Tornatore (Glen Head/North Shore) scooped up three ground balls.

New Paltz held two-goal leads of 4-2 and 5-3 in the opening half, while Cortland led 8-6 and 10-8 during the first 30 minutes and led 12-11 at the break. The Hawks took the lead with the first two goals of the second half before the Red Dragons scored four of the next five goals to gain a16-14 lead with 16:09 remaining. The teams then traded the next four goals and Cortland led, 18-16, with 2:45 on the clock.

New Paltz won the next draw and pulled to within 18-17 at 2:14. Meager won the ensuing draw, and Cashman's wrap-around shot hit the pipe at the 48-second mark. Gillis scooped up the ground ball and the Hawks called timeout with 33 seconds on the clock after clearing the ball. On the restart, Cortland checked the ball away from a New Paltz player but the Hawks regained possession and called timeout with four seconds to play. When action resumed, a New Paltz player threw an errant pass that rolled toward the end line as time ran out and the Red Dragons sealed the 18-17 win.

Cortland 18, New Paltz 17

Team                       1-2       Final
New Paltz               11-6          17
Cortland                  12-6          18

Scoring (Goals-Assists):
New Paltz: Tara Bovich 5-2, Amy Hofer 4-1, Maddy Carullo 2-2, Keydy Espinoza 2-0, Katie Zito 2-0, Kaitlyn Shaw 1-1, Camryn Ryder 1-0, Shannon Brosnan 0-1, Maddie Gillis 0-1
Cortland: Hannah Lorenzen 4-2, Hannah Keech 4-1, Kiki Meager 3-2, Toni Cashman 3-0, Amy Hoeffner 2-1, Hannah Tiso 1-1, Shelby Meduski 1-0, Cecilia Procopio 0-3, Kayla Petre 0-1

Goalkeepers:
New Paltz: Hailey Aber, 13 saves (18 GA in 60:00)
Cortland: Paige Potter, 7 saves, (17 GA in 60:00)

Shots: Cortland 37, New Paltz 31
Ground Balls: New Paltz 14, Cortland 13
Clears: New Paltz 16-of-19, Cortland 15-of-17
Draw Controls: Cortland 20, New Paltz 17
Caused Turnovers: Cortland 6, New Paltz 4
Turnovers: New Paltz 13, Cortland 12

Records after game: Cortland (Red Dragons) 2-1, 1-0 SUNYAC East (ranked 22nd nationally in Div. III); New Paltz (Hawks) 0-1, 0-1 SUNYAC East