TROY, NY – After trailing by a goal at halftime, the Cortland women's lacrosse team outscored Skidmore 8-3 in the second half to earn a come-from-behind 13-9 victory on Sunday afternoon in the season opener. The contest was originally scheduled to be played in Cortland, but was moved to Lower Renwyck Field on the campus of R.P.I. due to weather and unplayable surfaces. Cortland starts the season with a victory for the third consecutive year and is 1-0, while Skidmore drops to 0-1.

Toni Cashman (East Moriches/Westhampton Beach) and Mia Mitchell (Akwesasne, NY/The Hill Academy) each scored three times, and added an assist and two caused turnovers apiece to lead the Red Dragons. Nicole Iapoce (Clintondale/Highland) chipped in two goals and an assist and tallied two caused turnovers. 
 
Bella Dembinski (Holbrook/Sachem East) and Gemma Guy (Homer/Tully) both provided a pair of goals, with Guy scooping up two ground balls as well. Emma Dempsey (Brewerton/Paul V. Moore) recorded a goal and an assist. 
 
Trinity Parks (Port Crane/Chenango Forks) earned her first career victory in goal, making 12 saves for a .571 save percentage, causing two turnovers, and picking up two ground balls. Sierra Natoli (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker) and Ashley Melillo (Massapequa) both tallied one assist for Cortland. 
 
Skidmore was led by Lily Schwartzman and Jillian Lockwood, who each scored three goals. Lockwood also had five draw controls. Isabella Iannone took the loss in goal, making seven saves.

The Thoroughbreds needed just 39 seconds to open the scoring in the contest on Schwartzman's first goal of the game, but Cortland quickly responded to tie the game on Guy's first goal as a Red Dragon off of Natoli's first collegiate assist. A goal by Dempsey shortly after gave the Red Dragons the lead, before Skidmore scored twice to regain the lead with 4:55 left in the frame. Guy's second goal of the game, off of Mitchell's first assist for Cortland, and then Mitchell's first goal, helped the Red Dragons to a 4-3 advantage after one period. 
 
Cashman's first goal of the game near the midpoint of the second period gave Cortland a 5-3 edge, but the Thoroughbreds closed the half with three goals in the final 3:30, and a player-up goal by Lockwood with three seconds remaining gave Skidmore a 6-5 edge at the half. 

Cortland outscored Skidmore 5-1 in the third quarter to take control of the contest. The Red Dragons got goals from Mitchell and Cashman in the first three minutes, before Lockwood tied the game up at 7-7 with a free-position goal. 
 
Iapoce scored the go-ahead goal for the Red Dragons with 7:14 remaining, and Dembinski found the back of the net for a free-position goal to extend the lead to 9-7. Cashman netted her third goal of the game with four seconds left in the period to help the Red Dragons build a three-goal cushion after three quarters. 
 
Skidmore pulled to within two goals with nine minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, before Iapoce, Mitchell, and Dembinski netted goals to build a comfortable lead at 13-8 with under four minutes left. Skidmore scored a free-position goal with one second remaining to complete the scoring. 
 

Cortland 13, Skidmore 9 

Team             1-2-3-4       Final
Cortland        4-1-5-3           13
Skidmore       3-3-1-2           9

Scoring (Goals-Assists):
Cortland: Toni Cashman 3-1, Mia Mitchell 3-1, Nicole Iapoce 2-1, Bella Dembinski 2-0, Gemma Guy 2-0, Emma Dempsey 1-1, Sierra Natoli 0-1, Ashley Melillo 0-1
Skidmore: Jillian Lockwood 3-0, Lily Schwartzman 3-0, Julia Cafasso 1-0, Grace deBenedictis 1-0, Phoebe Ross 1-0, Hannah Nash 0-1, Charlotte Taylor 0-1

Goalkeepers:
Cortland: Trinity Parks 12 saves (9 GA in 60:00)
Skidmore: Isabella Ianonne, 7 saves (13 GA in 60:00)

Shots: Skidmore 27, Cortland 26
Ground Balls: Skidmore 12, Cortland 10
Clears: Cortland 18-of-23, Skidmore 8-of-11
Draw Controls: Skidmore 19, Cortland 5
Caused Turnovers: Cortland 13, Skidmore 9
Turnovers: Skidmore 18, Cortland 15

Records after game: Cortland (Red Dragons) 1-0; Skidmore (Thoroughbreds) 0-1