POTSDAM, NY – The Cortland women's lacrosse team scored 14 of the final 15 goals to turn a 4-4 tie into a comfortable 18-5 victory at Potsdam in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) opener for both sides on Saturday afternoon.
 
Cortland improves to 3-4 on the year, while Potsdam drops to 5-3.
 
Nicole Iapoce (Clintondale/Highland) was the leading point scorer for Cortland with three goals and two assists. Toni Cashman (East Moriches/Westhampton Beach) scored four goals, and Mia Mitchell (Akwesasne/The Hill Academy) and Gemma Guy (Homer/Tully) tallied three goals apiece.
 
Rachel Rempe (Aquabogue/Riverhead) had seven draw controls, while Lexi Caron (Manlius/Fayetteville-Manlius) had four caused turnovers and three draw controls. Bridie McGuire (Manorville/Eastport-South Manor) registered three caused turnovers and three ground balls.
 
Jayla Thompson scored three goals for Potsdam, while Lindsey LaDue had a goal and two assists. Kimora Swamp made 18 saves in goal.
 
Potsdam took the lead early in the first quarter on a free-position goal by LaDue. Cortland quickly responded with Mitchell's ninth goal of the season, off a feed from Ashley Melillo (Massapequa).
 
LaDue provided a pair of assists on Potsdam's next two goals and Iapoce netted a goal with 3:39 left in the quarter, as the Bears led 3-2 after one period.
 
Back-to-back goals by Melillo and Iapoce gave Cortland a 4-3 advantage with 6:34 left in the half. Potsdam took advantage of a yellow card on Cortland for a player-up goal by Thompson to equalize with 3:25 remaining.
 
Cortland then scored the next eight goals to go up 12-4 in the fourth quarter. Guy gave Cortland the lead for good with under three minutes left in the first half and Melillo netted a free-position goal with 29 seconds remaining for a 6-4 halftime lead.
 
The Red Dragons scored the only three goals in the third quarter, one each by Iapoce, Mitchell, and Cashman. Sierra Natoli (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker) and Kristen Javenes (North Rockland) each provided their first collegiate points with assists in the period.
 
Mitchell, Bella Dembinski (Holbrook/Sachem East), and Cashman netted the first three Cortland goals in the fourth quarter for a nine-goal advantage, before Thompson scored another player-up goal for the Bears.
 
Cortland closed the contest with the final six goals to secure the victory.
 
Cashman netted her third goal of the game, and Guy scored two straight goals for the Red Dragons, with the second goal being assisted by Isabel Adams (Burnt Hills/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake).
 
Emma Dempsey (Brewerton/Paul V. Moore) netted her fifth goal of the year off a feed from Iapoce with 3:39 remaining, and Savannah Herrman (Redding, CT/Academy of Information Technology and Engineering) recorded assists on the final two goals, one by Cashman and one by Lilly Call (Cortland). The assists were the first two points of Herrman's collegiate career, while the final goal was Call's first collegiate goal.