CORTLAND, NY – The Cortland women's hockey team, ranked 10th nationally by USCHO and 11th nationally by DIII Hockey News, closed out the Fall 2024 semester with a 4-0 shutout over Buffalo State in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) action on Friday at Alumni Arena. Cortland improves to 7-2-1 (3-2-0 SUNYAC), while Buffalo State falls to 3-6-1 (1-5-1 SUNYAC).

Taryn Raisanen (White Lake, MI/Trine University) scored twice for the Red Dragons, while Drew Kopek (Rome/Syracuse Valley Eagles U19) and Kayla Persinger (Youngstown/Newark Ironbound 19UAAA) had a goal and an assist. Mia Hlasnick (Olean/Niagara Jr. Purple Eagles U19) provided a pair of assists.

Molly Goergen (Eden Prairie, MN/Eden Prairie H.S.) picked up her fourth shutout of the season, making 21 saves in goal. Fanny Aneborn (Linkoping, Sweden/Lulea HF Sweden), Ainsley Delacourt (Stoney Creek, ON/Brampton Canadettes U22AA), and Katie Mahoney (Toronto, ON/Toronto Leaside U22) each picked up an assist.

Jessica Auge stopped 30 shots in goal for Buffalo State, while Emma Ramseier won six-of-seven faceoffs for the Bengals.

The first period started slowly, with each team having just two shots on goal in the opening nine minutes, which the goaltenders handled easily.

Cortland struck first with just under five minutes remaining in the period to make it 1-0 into the intermission. Persinger intercepted a pass in the Cortland offensive zone along the right boards, and skated along the blue line to the left before firing a wrist shot towards goal. The puck deflected off a defender, but Mahoney was quick to react, poking the puck over to Kopek for a shot into the left side of the net past Auge.

The Red Dragons doubled their advantage midway through the second period, as a pass from a Buffalo State defender deflected off of Hlasnick's skate right to Persinger, who skated in and deked the Bengal netminder to make it 2-0 with 8:24 remaining in the frame. In the final minute, Goergen made a great pad save on Sydney Radecki to stop a breakaway attempt and keep the score at 2-0.

Cortland made it 3-0 just 37 seconds into the third period, as Aneborn sprung Kopek on a breakaway down the left side. The initial shot by Kopek was saved, but Raisanen was in perfect position to clean up the rebound at the back post.

The Red Dragons completed the scoring with 6:35 remaining. Delacourt's shot from the left point was saved and the rebound was picked up beneath the goal line by Hlasnick. Hlasnick then passed back to the blue line, where Raisanen fired a wrist shot through traffic into the back of the net.
 
Score by periods
Cortland                  1-1-2      4
Buffalo State         0-0-0      0

Scoring Summary (Goals-Assists):
Cortland: Taryn Raisanen 2-0, Drew Kopek 1-1, Kayla Persinger 1-1, Mia Hlasnick 0-2,  Katie Mahoney 0-1,  Ainsley Delacourt 0-1, Fanny Aneborn 0-1,
Buffalo State: none

Saves: Molly Goergen (Cortland) 21 saves (0 GA in 59:58); Jessica Auge (Buffalo State) 30 saves (4 GA in 60:00)

Shots on goal: Cortland 34 (8-16-10), Buffalo State 21 (4-11-5)
Penalties: Cortland 2-4:00, Buffalo State 2-4:00
Power Play: Buffalo State 0-2, Cortland 0-2

Records after game: Cortland (Red Dragons) 7-2-1, 3-2 SUNYAC (ranked 10th in Div. III by USCHO, 11th in Div. III by DIII Hockey News), Buffalo State (Bengals) 3-6-1, 1-5-1 SUNYAC