CORTLAND, N.Y. – The nationally 19th-ranked Cortland women's lacrosse team built an eight-goal lead just before the midway point of the third quarter and held off a furious Geneseo rally to earn a 16-14 victory in the championship game of the SUNYAC Women's Lacrosse Tournament Saturday afternoon at the Stadium Complex.

The Red Dragons improved to 15-4 with their 14th straight win and earned an automatic berth in the upcoming NCAA Div. III tournament. The 23rd-ranked Knights had their nine-game winning streak snapped, falling to 14-3, and await a possible at-large bid.

Graduate student Hannah Lorenzen (Stony Brook/Ward Melville), the tournament MVP, scored a season-high 10 points on a season-best eight goals and two assists to lead the Cortland offense. Senior Hannah Keech (Penn Yan/Penn Yan Academy) netted three goals, senior Lauren Hopsicker (Burnt Hills/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) tallied one goal and two assists and sophomore Toni Cashman (East Moriches/Westhampton Beach) recorded one goal and one assist. Seniors Amy Hoeffner (Bay Shore) and Shelby Meduski (East Quogue/Westhampton Beach) and freshman Gabby Meager (Syracuse/West Genesee) each scored a goal.

Graduate student Paige Potter (Cortland) stopped nine shots in goal for the Red Dragons. Lorenzen added a game-high nine draw controls, sophomore Julie Kadletz (Shoreham/Shoreham-Wading River) caused two turnovers and junior Madelyn Czyz (Baldwinsville/C.W.Baker) won four draws.

Graduate student Hannah Marafioti (Fairport) paced Geneseo's attack with four goals and three assists. Sophomore Molly Brown (Cazenovia) tallied four goals and one assist, sophomore Madelynn Brown (Henrietta/Rush-Henrietta) netted four goals, sophomore Emily Salanger (Liverpool) recorded a goal and an assist and senior Emma Gaenzle (Rochester/Brighton) scored a goal.

Sophomore goalie Emily DeJohn (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker) registered seven saves. Molly Brown and Salanger each finished with five draws, and senior April Rowell (Glen Head/North Shore) caused three turnovers.

Cortland led, 6-4, after one quarter, using a three-goal run in the final four minutes to gain the lead. After the Knights pulled to within 6-5 early in the second quarter, the Red Dragons closed the half with four straight goals to build a 10-5 lead at the break.

Cashman, Hopsicker and Lorenzen each netted goals to open the third quarter to push Cortland's advantage to 13-5 at the 8:20 mark. The Knights scored four of the next five goals to make it a 14-9 game after three quarters.

Three goals in a row by Geneseo to start the fourth quarter cut Cortland's lead to 14-12 with 8:15 remaining. Lorenzen stopped the run at 5:26, but goals from Molly Brown and Marafioti made it a 15-14 game with 2:52 on the clock. The Knights won the draw after Marafioti's goal with a chance to tie but turned the ball over. Cortland worked a good clear, and Lorenzen scored her eighth and final goal with 1:11 remaining to put the Red Dragons ahead, 16-14. Geneseo won the ensuing draw, but Potter made a save on Madelynn Brown with 46 seconds on the clock. Cortland worked a good clear and held possession to secure the 16-14 victory.

Joining Lorenzen on the all-tournament team were Czyz, Hopsicker, Kadletz and graduate student Kayla Sweeney (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker) of Cortland; Marafioti, both Browns and Rowell of Geneseo; Margaret Byrne of Oneonta; and Logan Hibbard of Brockport.

Cortland 16, Geneseo 14

Team                 1-2-3-4       Final
Geneseo            4-1-4-5          14
Cortland             6-4-4-2          16

Scoring (Goals-Assists):
Geneseo: Hannah Marafioti 4-3, Molly Brown 4-1, Madelynn Brown 4-0, Emily Salanger 1-1, Emma Gaenzle 1-0, Megan Cook 0-1
Cortland: Hannah Lorenzen 8-2, Hannah Keech 3-0, Lauren Hopsicker 1-2, Toni Cashman 1-1, Gabby Meager 1-0, Shelby Meduski 1-0, Amy Hoeffner 1-0

Goalkeepers:
Geneseo: Emily DeJohn, 7 saves (16 GA in 60:00)
Cortland: Paige Potter, 9 saves (14 GA in 60:00)

Shots: Cortland 28, Geneseo 28
Ground Balls: Cortland 15, Geneseo 11
Clears: Cortland 18-of-21, Geneseo 14-of-16
Draw Controls: Cortland 17, Geneseo 16
Caused Turnovers: Geneseo 6, Cortland 5
Turnovers: Geneseo 13, Cortland 13

Records after game: Cortland (Red Dragons) 15-4 (ranked 19th nationally in Div. III); Geneseo (Knights) 14-3 (ranked 23rd nationally in Div. III)